Projectile
by FeudalPriestess98
Summary: Projectile (n): A missile designed to be fired from a rocket or gun. Takahashi Inuyasha had a lot of projectiles come his way in the line of duty, and he has finally achieved the position he has been working for all of his life. A new case has come his way, as well as a new partner, but what if the projectile comes from somewhere he never expected?
1. Chapter 1

****

Welcome to _Projectile_ , for those of you just joining us! I used to have a lot of notes up, but as this is an updated version of chapter one, I can't quite remember everything I wrote. However, these are the important things you need to know before reading:

1\. If you have read this story before and and you are re-reading, catching up, whatever, then you probably know that the agency that Inuyasha and the others work at in this story was called the FBIJ but that is now changing to the Japanese Task Force. It's more accurate to how law enforcement really is in Japan, as the FBIJ was made up by me in the first place. Nothing else will be changing other than the name; the premise remains the same. I'm sorry I'm changing it now!

2\. I'm still learning about the investigation process and the justice system myself from the classes I am taking at my university. So, please, do not take me as the end-all-be-all of knowledge on this subject. I research as I go for things I may be unsure on, so you guys are learning as I learn!

3\. Also, the Japanese government system is pretty complex so I'm narrowing it down _a lot._ Once again, please don't think I'm all-knowing on the subject. Some of it I just have to make up though I try to remain as accurate as possible.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _InuYasha_ and do not profit from this story.

* * *

 **Date: February 1, 2016**

 **7:00 A.M.**

A disgruntled figure stepped out of his car, slamming the door with such force that the car shook slightly, shrinking further into his trench coat as Tokyo's chilly February air hit his face. He hated being called into the office this early in the kami-forsaken morning when he should be passed out in bed. He just wasn't a morning person. In fact, he wasn't an any-time-of-day person but he still liked to come into the office on his own terms. Unfortunately, in this line of work, no one got choose when duty called. But he knew that when he was offered the official position of, "Special Investigator Takahashi".

Takahashi Inuyasha threw the door open to the Japanese Task Force building. There were only one or two people in the break room making their morning coffee so he wouldn't frighten too many people with his stomping around. When the scent of the warm, chocolate-smooth coffee grounds hit Inuyasha's olfactory system, he desperately wanted to stop and make himself a cup, but he relented, knowing if he wasn't in his brother's office at 7:00 a.m. sharp, the elder brother would have the younger one's ass. As much as Inuyasha loved getting under Sesshy's fur, it was a bit too early to hear his bitchy nagging.

But Inuyasha showed up to the office at 7:01 just to be a dick, nevertheless.

Sesshy barely looked up from his papers when his half-brother entered and let out a curt, "Good morning, Takahashi"

Inuyasha grumbled out a quick, "G'mornin'," as he plopped into the worn-out chair across from his brother.

Takahashi Sesshomaru was Inuyasha's older half-brother and agent-in-charge of the Task Force at the age of forty-one. The full dog-demon was perfect for the position he was in: With his icy cold demeanor, emotionless eyes, an engulfing hunger for precision and power, and an aura that dominated every room, Sesshomaru was, plain and simple, terrifying. Well, to everyone else except Inuyasha, who was a part of his brother's investigation team. He had a few pictures back from their adolescent and college days that Sesshy would do anything to keep from being seen, so Inuyasha had some leverage against him. However, the bastard held the key to Inuyasha's career, so the younger brother had to tread carefully on just how much he pissed Sesshomaru off these days. Others thought there was bias involved when Inuyasha was offered the position of special investigator, the youngest in history at age thirty. Little did they know that Sesshomaru hated his younger brother's guts and wouldn't have offered Inuyasha the position if he didn't feel like he deserved a shot at it - even if Inuyasha was only a half-demon.

The chief sat up in his chair, his golden eyes lifting up from the papers. Straightening out imaginary wrinkles on his crimson tie, Sesshomaru fixed Inuyasha with a piercing, golden gaze.

"Another case has come in. I received the call this morning."

Inuyasha grunted in response, remaining slumped in the chair. "Yeah? Who kicked the bucket this time?"

Sesshomaru ignored his brother's nonchalance and instead dropped a file on the desk in front of Inuyasha. "Fujiwara Hakudoshi, one of our government's cabinet members, was found dead in his home by his wife, Fujiwara Abi. Their daughter was over at a friend's house, so she was spared from the sight. Evidence specialists are headed over there now. I suggest you get there as well."

"You're so sure it's a murder already?" Inuyasha asked.

"It was fairly obvious," Sesshy replied in monotone.

Grabbing a post-it-note with a flick of his hand, Sesshomaru scribbled across the paper then held it out to Inuyasha when he was finished. "The address to the Fujiwara's residence. You're dismissed."

Inuyasha didn't look at the slip of paper as he stood from the chair, shoving his hands into the worn-out pockets of his coat. As he gave Sesshomaru one more glance, Inuyasha noticed there were dark circles under his eyes, something that was unusual for the well-kept demon. The older brother also had a cup of steaming coffee sitting on his desk.

Inuyasha frowned slightly. _Sesshomaru never drinks coffee._

"What's up, Sesshy? I haven't seen you look this shit-faced since you were in college," the younger silver-haired man noted.

With a deep sigh, Sesshomaru surrendered to the tiredness in his bones and fell back into his chair. "Rin was having contractions again. We rushed to the hospital, for sure this time was it, but they subsided after a couple of hours. We stayed all night so they could watch her. She was released only two hours ago. This is the third night I haven't had any sleep. It's beginning to catch up with me."

Inuyasha couldn't help the sympathetic gaze that crossed over his face. Unlike his feelings towards his older brother, Inuyasha actually liked Sesshomaru's wife. She was sweet and innocent, with big brown eyes that said she would make you your favorite meal whenever you wanted her to. Inuyasha took full advantage of that whenever he was too lazy to make ramen himself or go buy something. He couldn't cook worth a shit so he didn't even try, and Rin was more than happy to oblige his hunger.

Now, she was expecting her and Sesshomaru's first child, and her pregnancy hadn't been an easy one. She had morning sickness often at the beginning, which led to many contractions and back pain towards the end. Rin was due any minute, leaving the couple on their toes as to when she would finally go into labor. It hadn't been easy on either of them, Inuyasha could see that now. Sesshomaru never admitted to any sort of weakness. So if he was saying that the stress and late nights were catching up with him, Inuyasha sure as hell believed him.

The hanyou gave it a shot at encouraging his brother, "Rin's strong and she's excited to have your child, though no one knows the fuck why. When the time is right, it will happen." It felt half-assed but it was better than saying nothing, Inuyasha guessed.

Sesshomaru didn't smile, didn't even look at his brother, but simply nodded. "I suppose you're correct."

Sensing that the short-lived bonding conversation was over, Inuyasha turned on his heel to head towards the door.

"Takahashi?"

At the call of his title, Inuyasha froze in the doorway and looked at his superior, signaling he was listening.

"A new recruit has been assigned to our team," Sesshomaru informed. "I picked her personally from the applicants. She'll be joining you at the scene as soon as she can."

The half-demon couldn't helped the annoyed flick of his ear and the growl that reverberated through his chest. "Are you fucking joking, Sesshomaru? What are you thinking, putting a rookie on a high profile case like this? They won't know what the hell they're doing!"

The agent-in-chief fixed the investigator with a glare. "I suggest your lower your tone and use more professional language. This student has made top marks in all of her classes at our training facility, as well as her excellent college record. Her internship with the NYPD in America is astounding. I want her insight on this case. I understand the scrutiny I will be under for assigning such a newcomer for a case such as this but I am taking responsibility. Part of it, anyway."

Inuyasha's golden eyes narrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I am placing her under your watch and advisement. Now that you have been promoted to a higher position, I feel you could help her become as good an investigator as you are. You have been here long enough to take on an apprentice."

The perturbed man snarled. "Fuck you, Sesshomaru. This is only my first case as a special investigator and you're already dumping this on me? Fuck. You."

"If you would like to ague, I will gladly take the promotion from you. I'm sure that extra one million yen you now make per year would not be missed," Sesshomaru hissed back warningly.

Narrowing his eyes, Inuyasha realized he was in a corner. Sesshomaru knew damn well that Inuyasha worked his ass off to pass all the tests required in order to become certified. He wanted that position and made sure he got it. Plus, his rent just went up so the raise wasn't exactly something Inuyasha would complain about.

With an undignified huff, the hanyou wordlessly told his brother that he surrendered, beginning to stomp down the hallway.

"Oh, and for the thousandth time, please call me Takahashi-sama while we are in a formal setting such as this," Sesshomaru called after the annoyed male.

"Suck a dick, Sesshy!" Inuyasha barked back and he threw him the middle finger as he sauntered out.

 **xXx**

When Special Agent Takahashi pulled up to the victim's house, the grandeur of it all smacked him right in the face. The blaringly white house displayed large columns on the front porch, with a pointed roof and at least two stories tall. Windows dotted the exterior of the house, indicating many rooms within. It was definitely not your typical Japanese- style home; Americanization was becoming more evident in upper-class neighborhoods such as this. However, Inuyasha wasn't intimidated by the obvious high-end living of the Fujiwara's. It only further reminded him that not even the most powerful people in the world were immune to the evil that resided in the world.

He could see Agent Ōkami car also parked in the unnecessarily long driveway; he assumed Agent Tachibana had ridden with him. Inuyasha wondered if they had to fight through the bothersome reporters gathering around the front gate like he did.

 _Fucking vultures, the lot of them_ , Takahashi thought to himself. _How did they find out Fujiwara was dead already?_

Pushing the thought aside, the hanyou entered the residence. He didn't bother knocking; the bastard was dead and the wife was at the police station by now. While still in the foyer, Inuyasha slipped the protective booties over his shoes to keep from contaminating the crime scene with outside debris. The inside of the house was just as beautiful as the outside; everything look clean and crisp and overly expensive.

Inuyasha ignored it all. It wasn't important to the problem at hand. The sound of feet moving around upstairs indicated where the two evidence specialists were. Making a bee line for the stairs, he moved over the plush, cream carpet and strode into the room Ōkami Koga and Tachibana Sango were working in. They didn't look up nor they did they speak to each other as Inuyasha stopped in the doorway to observe the scene before him.

This was obviously the couple's bedroom, and it was the only room in the house that was no longer perfectly white. Fujiwara Hakudoshi's body could almost make it seem like he was still asleep, spread out naked on his stomach like that. The only thing ruining the perfect image was the blood splattered all over the pillows and headboard around Hakudoshi's head, the too-dark red reaching like malicious fingers across the perfectly white bed. Nothing else in the room was disturbed; this indicated there was no sign of a struggle. Whoever killed him either caught the Cabinet member off-guard or was welcomed into the house.

The wife, perhaps? It was definitely a possibility and Inuyasha was set to question her the next day anyway. It would do no good to question her today; she was probably too shaken to speak. Fujiwara Abi was the one that found her husband, after all.

"What's the cause of death?" Inuyasha finally addressed the other two agents.

"Bullet wound to the head," Agent Tachibana answered. "It's a pretty clean shot, too. We had to turn the body slightly over to see it. We'll have to find out the time of death after the medical examiner examines the body. The van is just waiting on us to call to come collect the body."

"We swabbed under his fingernails in case there could be anything under them but I highly doubt it," Agent Ōkami continued. "The body will have to receive a full swab at the lab. We're also collecting carpet fibers in case anything was tracked in."

Inuyasha nodded. The murder scene before him was clean . . . too clean. Whoever did this wasn't new to the idea of killing, but they probably wouldn't have a record either, so fingerprints wouldn't help narrow down suspects in AFIS. This case was going to have to be handled the old fashioned way: Through questioning and good ol' detective work. Also, with the way the body was laying, the victim was shot standing up and from behind. So he wasn't asleep when he was killed; he possibly saw his assailant.

"Hello?" a female voice fluttered from downstairs.

"That must be the new girl," Sango stated. "I'll bring her up." With that, Sango disposed of the rubber gloves she was wearing and put them into a plastic baggie.

Koga glanced up from writing on his log at the hanyou. "You look more irritated than usual today."

Inuyasha shrugged in nonchalance. "Just annoyed how Sesshy threw a rookie on a case like this. I don't want our asses plastered all over the news for botching this case because they screwed something up."

The wolf demon rolled his eyes. "You know Chief Takahashi-sama wouldn't have hired her on if he didn't think she could do it. He's not a dumbass. Besides, she got top marks in all of her classes, I've heard. Apparently, she's not a dumb cookie either."

The annoyed agent snorted in disdain but didn't bother to comment further. Did no one else see the risk in this?

As if on cue, Inuyasha heard the women ascending the stairs behind him. He didn't bother to acknowledge their presence but did move away from the doorway to let them through. The special investigator didn't spare a glance as the new girl breezed past him. He avoided looking at her at all. That didn't stop her scent from hitting his nose, though.

The hanyou's brow creased in confusion. _Jasmine fragrance, definitely, but beneath that there's something familiar about it. Why?_

"Agent Higurashi-san, it's a pleasure to meet you," Koga greeted cheerfully as he shook the young woman's hand. "I've heard impressive things about you. I'm Agent Ōkami Koga, evidence specialist."

"It's nice to meet you as well," the new agent said while shaking Koga's hand. "Please, just call me Higurashi-san. You don't need to call me 'Agent'. I don't think I've earned the right to that title yet," she blushed.

Inuyasha snorted at her words. _Damn right she hasn'_ _t._

He could practically feel the glare Sango shot him.

"That lovely creature is Agent Takahashi. He's just been promoted to Special Investigator, but he's been investigating with our team for years," Sango spoke for him.

"Thanks for the introduction, Sango. Now why don't you get back to collection?" Inuyasha barked in annoyance. It's not like they had all damn _day._

Wordlessly, the Higurashi girl moved over to the brooding man leaning against the doorway. The young woman couldn't help but note his beautiful silver hair that reached his waist and the deep scowl etched across his face-at least, from the side that's all Kagome could make out.

Deciding to kill it with kindness, Kagome walked over to her superior and offered her hand. "I'm Higurashi Kagome. It's nice to put a face to a name, Takahashi-sama."

Inuyasha stared out the outstretched hand. Something inside him told him not to touch her. But could he do that now? He would look like even more of a dick to not shake her hand and even Inuyasha had a limit. Biting the bullet, the agent accepted the wench's hand reluctantly, instantly feeling the warm radiating from her body and he was forced to look at her. What he saw was not expected. He expected to see a dorky little twit with too-big glasses and messy, unkempt hair that went in fifty different directions, if only because the image amused him.

That is not what was in front of him, though. Higurashi Kagome was . . . cute, in a young sort of way. Her bright blue eyes looked at him so expectantly it made him feel bad for ever thinking a single bad thought about her. Her hair was the opposite of messy: Jagged bangs framed her heart-shaped face and the glossy tendrils that reached past her shoulders waved delicately. A nervous, kind smile curved her full lips upward and her small nose lift slightly. The young woman still had that hopeful, excited look about her that all agents had at first. The more cases that piled up over the years and the more murder you're subjected to fades that hope quickly.

Finally responding, Inuyasha managed to say, "Yeah, thanks. Nice to meet you, too."

Kagome could feel those golden eyes of his bore into her, making her suppress a shiver. Though his face was somewhat bored-looking, that didn't take away from his uniquely striking features. His dark eyebrows framed those sun-kissed orbs perfectly, but she couldn't help but notice that while he was trying to keep his features passive, his eyes spoke volumes. He seemed . . . confused? Kagome couldn't quite place it but she definitely wanted to know why he was looking at her so intently.

Dropping his hand, the young woman watched as he quickly shoved it back into his coat pocket. _Odd,_ she thought. Turning around, Kagome quickly scanned the scene before her.

"I read in the file that Fujiwara-sama was a Cabinet member. Has he done anything to put a target on his back?"

Koga shrugged. "I know that he and a few other members were working with the Prime Minister on developing some sort of bill from what I heard on the news. Got a few people riled up but that's really nothing new. Not everyone is going to be content with everything the government does."

Kagome nodded in agreement. "We'll look in to it, definitely. We should also place the Prime Minister and the other Cabinet members under stricter security until we get this sorted out."

Sango sealed up her last envelope of evidence and smiled at Higurashi. "Of course, you're absolutely right. We'll let Chief Takahashi-sama know as soon as we return."

Kagome gave her fellow agent a small smile and moved towards the bed. She was a bit nervous of over-stepping her boundaries as a newly hired agent but she also wanted to make a good impression to her fellow team members. Kagome had worked her ass off in college and at her internship, missed out on so many opportunities to get where she was now. She was not going to throw it all away because she was nervous!

Staring at the bed, Kagome analyzed the tousled sheets, the near-perfect blood splatters, and the naked dead man spread out before her. Her brow creased in confusion.

"Was he shot standing up?" she asked anyone available to answer.

"Yeah," Takahashi-sama answered. "How could you tell?"

"The way he's laying," Kagome pointed out. "His legs are in the position as if he were standing and then plopped over. Was he supposed to go into work this morning?"

"No, his wife mentioned he was off today," Tachibana-sama responded.

"And she is the one that found the body?"

"That's right."

Kagome hummed in curiosity. "Do we have an UV light?"

"Yeah, hold on," Koga said and rummaged through one of their bags of supplies. The wolf demon pulled out the item and closed the blinds so the room was a bit darker.

Kagome slipped on a pair of rubber gloves and took the device from Koga. Shooting him a thanks, she switched on the light and held it over the sheets. Scanning over the white linens, she went in horizontal lines until she found what she suspected would be there: human DNA. It couldn't be mistaken, it was glowing bright right under the blue light.

"There's semen here. Might want to swab it," the young woman called out.

Quickly moving, Sango grabbed a cotton swab from the pack and made her way to stand beside Kagome. Reaching down, she swirled the swab in the stain and immediately put it into an envelope for documentation.

"If the wife saw the body this morning, then she probably wasn't here last night. Someone else was here, but who?" Kagome wondered out loud.

Inuyasha thought through the evidence. The victim was naked, and unless he slept that way, then he had either gotten out of the shower before he was shot or he was doing some naughty business. However, there was no indication of a shower; Fujiwara-sama didn't smell like he had just taken a shower beforehand. In fact, he smelled of lingering sweat that death had yet to erase from his body. Inuyasha could see the scene in his mind now.

"A lover," the hanyou spoke through the silence. "Our victim had a lover and I think someone wanted revenge. We need to interrogate the wife as soon as possible."

"She'll be returning to her daughter when we release her from the office today, but we're having her come back in tomorrow," Koga informed.

"Good, and while we're at it, put an officer with them. If she's involved in any way, we're not going to give her any opportunities to cover anything up in the meantime. Is everything done here?"

"Should be," the wolf demon grunted as he packed away the UV light. "I'll call the medical team and let them know we're ready for pick-up." Disposing of his gloves in a plastic bag, Koga stepped out of the room.

As Sango finished packing up the rest of the supplies, she addressed Kagome. "Good call on using the UV light, Higurashi-san. I see you're going to live up to your reputation as best in your class."

Kagome let out a nervous laugh and slipped off her gloves.

"Feh, it's not that impressive, Sango," Inuyasha commented.

"Oh yeah?" Sango snapped, annoyed at his attitude. "Then why didn't you say something in the first place?"

Inuyasha shrugged, not giving that a dignified response. Yes, Fujiwara-sama having an affair was obvious, but when he entered the room, he smelled no scents besides the deceased's and the wife's from when she was here. So, was the semen from personal business that Fujiwara engaged in, or an affair? Also, Sesshomaru said that the wife _found_ the body so where was she before and during the murder?

Kagome glared at the man in the doorway. He was gazing out the windows that Koga had re-opened, avoiding looking at anyone else in the room. She was a bit perturbed that he had written off her theory in such a rude way; was this truly the man everyone revered as a great detective?

"Look, I know I'm new to this, but Takahashi-sama hired me to help you. I'm going to give my insight whenever I am able because that's what I'm here to do. If you have a problem with that, take it up with your boss," Kagome spoke up to Takahashi.

"Ain't nothing for you to do besides sit back and shut up. Anything else you do will only fuck up this case, and then we'll have the media all over our asses," Inuyasha said while still looking out the window.

Kagome's eyes narrowed impossibly further. It was as if he could sense her insecurities and knew exactly where to hurt her. When she had gotten the call from Takahashi Sesshomaru early that morning to report to the crime scene of a murdered Cabinet member, Kagome was unsure of his decision. She was fresh out of her training at the academy, hadn't even received her badge yet, and he was still assigning her to a case like this? Kagome had questioned him to make sure he was correct, that he had mean to call someone else, but Takahashi-sama was adamant about her going. _Of course_ she was afraid she would screw up; what new investigator wouldn't be? But with that said, she didn't going through an internship and her training for nothing!

Marching up to the older man, Kagome fixed him with an arctic glare and her words came out calm but cold, "You know, if you're really that disgusted by working with me, then you're welcome to move to another case. Because I'm staying right where I was assigned!"

As immature as it was, Kagome flicked her hair over her shoulder and stomped out dramatically.

Inuyasha couldn't help the pissed off growl that escaped him. How dare a rookie challenged him like that? The wench didn't know what she was getting herself into.

"What?" he snapped when he caught Sango staring at him. She just shook her head at him in disappointment, causing Inuyasha to ball his hands into fists and stomp out of the room in much the same childish manner that Kagome did.

* * *

Updated on: February 17, 2018


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _InuYasha_ and do not profit from this story.

* * *

 **Date: February 2, 2016**

 **8:00 A.M.**

Higurashi Kagome walked into the Japanese Task force building at eight in the morning. She pointedly ignored the stares she was getting from her male counterparts as she made her way through the reception area; it wasn't because anyone thought she was exceptionally gorgeous or that she was horribly ugly. It was the simple fact that she was a woman. Not that there was much blatant sexism left in many work atmospheres anymore. Women could get hired anywhere a man could, but a woman working at a federal level job in Japan was still rare, especially for a female as young as Kagome, who was at the age of twenty-five. There was one woman working at the front desk to answer any calls that rang, waiting to be put through to whatever department they needed. The stares did not intimidate Kagome, however. Her time in America had taught her to stand her ground in any situation with confidence.

This seemed it would be a valuable lesson, as a certain demon had already tested her patience.

Speaking of the man leading her very first case, Kagome suddenly remembered she had not had her morning coffee, as she had woken up late from staying awake all night, studying up on the deceased Cabinet member, Fujiwara Hakudoshi. She found a few articles on him but nothing particularly noteworthy. Fujiwara-sama had been elected as a cabinet member when his father died back in 2011, and while many suspected his election had something to do with family ties, public opinion of him was somewhat positive. He hadn't done anything outstanding to put him too much in the public eye, but he did have a part in coming with a clean energy initiative for Japan, which many of the citizens rejoiced over. Kagome couldn't figure out why someone with such little recognition and limelight would be murdered. Unless, it was something personal in the home, which was a high possibility.

The young agent mindlessly made herself a Styrofoam cup of coffee in the break room while going through her findings in her mind. Kagome was so lost in thought, in fact, she didn't notice her superior agent marching into the room, an annoyed look covering his countenance.

Takahashi had been looking for the little wench since he noticed her stench permeate the building. The medical examiner had the results from the semen found on the bed and had started the autopsy; Inuyasha was impatient to get started. He wasn't going to sit around and await for her to show up to his office on her own sweet time.

"Hey, wench!" Inuyasha called when he entered the break room, causing many surprised heads to turn his way. He pointedly ignored them as he approached Higurashi-san.

He was immediately annoyed by the sight of her, for reasons unknown to him. He still couldn't help but take the young woman in, despite his best efforts. She was wearing a black blazer over a white button-down shirt, the long sleeves peeking out underneath the arms of the blazer. Her legs were covered by tight, black slacks, forcing him to notice her curves _a lot_ more than he cared to admit. Inuyasha quickly dispelled the thought.

"Yes, Takahashi-sama?" Kagome greeted sweetly. His golden eyes burned deeply into her. _What the hell is his problem?_

"Don't just stand there, let's go! I'm not waiting on your ass to get started."

Kagome couldn't help the roll her eyes made towards the sky and explained, "Calm down. I'm not even running late. I just wanted a cup of coffee before I came to your office."

"I don't really give a shit. The results for the semen are in and the autopsy has started. Plus, we're interrogating Fujiwara Abi after we're done there. Let's go," Takahashi barked at the young agent. He turned on his heel and left the room as noisily as he entered.

Kagome really tried very hard to suppress another eye roll. Really, she did.

Sucking down a steaming, sour sip of caffeine, Higurashi-san followed after the equally steaming demon, her heels thumping on the tile the whole way.

Inuyasha made his way down to the medical room as the young woman followed behind him. He hadn't expected the results to come in so quickly, but his team did tend to pull late nights and even some all-nighters.

"Here we are," Takahashi grumbled as they stood in front of the glass doors to the medical room.

Higurashi-san drank her last sip of coffee and deposited the cup into a trash can outside the door. Looking up at him, she nodded to signal she was ready.

Pushing open the door, the profiler grabbed rubber gloves from a box on the shelf once inside. Kagome followed suit. Inuyasha noted the serious tone of her face, how determined she looked. He was once again reminded of him when he was just starting out. Plus, that was before Sesshy was his boss and he sure as hell had a lot more freedom then.

"Oi, Miroku," Inuyasha said as he approached the lab-coat clad man. "You got the results for me?"

Medical Examiner Houshi Miroku turned to face his long-term friend with a beaming smile. "Inuyasha, how nice of you to grace my office with your presence. I was really hoping Tachibana-san would be the one to visit me-"

Inuyasha cut Miroku off right there. "Yeah, you know she doesn't want to deal with you this early in the morning, if ever. Besides, she's got more important things to do."

"Ah, yes, she is quite the busy-body." Miroku flicked his dark, purple-seeming eyes to the small figure standing next to the ever-irritated agent. His already beaming smile grew wider. "What have we here? A new agent?"

"Yeah, she just started yesterday. She's my new . . . trainee," Inuyasha grunted in a half-assed attempt to introduce Higurashi-san. He was even more annoyed now that she was inadvertently distracting Miroku from the matter at hand.

Kagome took initiative herself and stepped forward with her hand raised. "I'm Higurashi Kagome. It's a pleasure to meet you. Are you the only medical examiner? That seems like it could get hectic for you."

"My co-worker is on vacation right now; he'll be back next week. But let's not worry about him right now." Miroku grabbed Kagome's hand that was still outstretched towards him and brought it to his lips to peck the back of it. "I'm Houshi Miroku. It's lovely to meet such a beautiful new agent. We haven't had a new female agent since Tachibana-san. And you are especially eye-catching, Agent Higurashi-san."

If the young woman was moved by Miroku flattering words, she didn't show it. The only change was Kagome's face melting from cheerful to bored. She slid her hand out of the medical examiner's grip and shoved it deep into her pocket.

Inuyasha couldn't help the low growl that worked its way up into his throat, threatening to spill past his lips. Why the fuck couldn't people _focus?_ It's not like they weren't on a goddamn time schedule!

"That's very sweet of you to say, Houshi-sama, but would you mind if we got back to the matter at hand? I think Takahashi-sama is getting quite impatient," Kagome said smoothly, deflecting Miroku's words easily.

The medical examiner shot Special Agent Takahashi a quick glance before covering it up with a smile. "Right!" he exclaimed excitedly. "The results for the semen came back this morning. I ran the DNA through NDIS last night and they finished this morning. Unfortunately, that's more Hachi's thing than mine, but I managed to figure it out. I was a little rusty using the system-"

"Miroku," Inuyasha snapped while gritting his teeth, "you're babbling. Back to the point, please?"

"Sorry. Anyways, I can tell you that the semen in the bed wasn't the deceased's or the wife's, since we swabbed her when she arrived here. So you're hunch about Fujiwara-sama having a lover was correct, most likely."

"There was no bullet found at the scene," Kagome stated. "I assume it's still in his head?"

"Ah, yes . . ." Motioning for the two agents to follow him with a wave of his finger, Miroku led them over to the silver table that Fujiwara's body rested upon.

Kagome had to suppress the shiver that coursed through her spine. She had seen plenty of dead bodies; from her anatomy classes in college to her internship, this wasn't something new she was being exposed to. It wasn't death that shook her or any horrific murder scene. There was something about Fujiwara's body that psyched her out. The deceased man was pale in life, from the pictures Kagome saw of him on the internet, but now his skin seemed almost translucent, blue veins running like skinny rivers under his dermis. However, his white hair hadn't changed at all, whereas most hair after that become stiff and dull, making Fujiwara seem way too life-like for comfort. The young woman had to plant her feet firmly to keep herself from backing away.

Miroku walked around to the opposite side of the body from where Inuyasha and Kagome were standing. The medical examiner picked up a pair of tongs, with the bullet nestled between them, which were resting in a container of sterile liquid. He held it up for the two to see.

"I managed to dig the bullet out. Judging by the position of the bullet in the brain, just behind the frontal lobe, the shot was mid- to long-range and the gun was no bigger than a handgun," Miroku explained and placed the bullet back into its container.

"So the person who shot him either obtained the gun illegally or they have special permission to own a handgun," Inuyasha said, more to himself than to the others in the room.

After a moment of silence, Inuyasha nodded, as if finalizing something. "Thanks, Miroku. Great work. This information helps a hell of a lot." Looking at Kagome beside him, he made a simple gesture of his head, signaling for her to follow him.

Eyes widening in surprise at the abrupt departure, Kagome quickly thanked Miroku for the helpful information and quickly made to follow after the senior agent.

"Hey," Miroku called after her. When Kagome's blue eyes were fixed on him curiously, he added with a soft smile, "Good luck, Higurashi-san."

Smiling back, Kagome replied, "Thank you, Houshi-sama. I need it." When she heard Inuyasha let out an annoyed call for her, the young woman hurried after him.

"So, are we going to interview Fujiwara-sama now?" she inquired.

"No," Inuyasha grunted, " _I_ am going to interview her. You're sitting out on this."

"What?! You know, the point of me training under you is so I can learn under you until my badge is issued. I can't just miss out on the fieldwork! We have to do this together!" Kagome protested, amazed on the audacity of the older man.

Inuyasha bristled in annoyance. "There's no fucking we! I don't want you screwing up this case!"

Coming to a halt, she put her hands on her hips, fixing the demon before her with a freezing glare. Inuyasha noticed that her footsteps ceased and turned to look at just what the hell she thought she was doing. He needed to get to that interrogation room, dammit!

"You're already doubting me before you've let me try or see what I can do. I didn't graduate at the top of my class for nothing, you know! So how about we make a deal? You let me interrogate her with you. If I totally screw up, I'll let you do everything by yourself from now on. If not, you get your head out of your stubborn ass and let me work this damn case!" Kagome's finger tapped on her hip as she awaited his response but all he did was stare at her!

All Inuyasha could do was stare at the small wench before him. He never had a woman talk to him like that before . . . ever. Most were either too scared or didn't want anything to do with him at all. No woman had dared to raise their voice to him, didn't have the guts, but this wench had the balls to stand there and lecture him, even gave him an ultimatum.

She did have a point, though. Inuyasha knew he was being an asshole to her without any good reason; there was just something about her that rubbed him a certain way. It wasn't necessarily a bad way but that was part of the problem. The hanyou didn't know what to think of her, so he went with his natural dickhead attitude. It always worked best for him.

He let out a heavy sigh of defeat. "Fine. Whatever. But the moment you fuck something up, you're not bugging me about this shit anymore! Got it?"

Kagome nodded vigorously, smiling brightly as she did so. "Yes, Takahashi-sama! I promise I won't let you down!"

Inuyasha rolled his golden eyes upward and started back down the hallway to his destination. _She does have a cute smile though . . ._

Fujiwara Abi was a beautiful woman with jet black hair and pale skin that was similar to her husband's. What took away from her beauty though is that her hair was haphazardly thrown into a ponytail, brown eyes so dull they looked like dirt, and dark circles ringed the two orbs. She was wearing an oversized sweater that made her look even smaller than she naturally should be.

Special Agent Takahashi momentarily felt a pang of pity for the woman-losing a loved one was never easy-but he had work to do and Inuyasha didn't intend for feelings to get in the way of that.

"Good morning, Fujiwara-sama," Inuyasha greeted as he sat in a chair across from her. "Thank you for coming in this early. We'll make this quick and get you back to your daughter."

As Kagome took a seat beside him, she was amazed at the amount of gentleness the agent had in his voice; it wasn't a tone she thought he was capable of using towards anyone breathing.

Abi's eyes remained fixed on the table in front of her, despondent. Glancing at Takahashi-sama, Kagome waited for him to take the lead. It was a miracle she was in here and she didn't want to push her luck.

Inuyasha cleared his throat at the lack of response and took a notepad from his pocket. After all, in his field, if you don't write something down, it didn't happen or it wasn't said. "Fujiwara-sama," he began, "around what time did you find the body?"

Abi licked her dry lips and croaked, "Around four in the morning. I had just gotten off my shift at the hospital. I'm a nurse."

"I see." Inuyasha made the note. "Were you alone at that time? Was anyone else in the house at that time?"

Fujiwara-sama shook her head. "I-I came home alone and there wasn't anyone else there. My daughter was at a friend's house and when I went upstairs my husband was already . . . already . . ." The older woman bit down on her lip hard as she tried to hold back the emotions willing to spill over.

"Would you be willing to make a statement proving that?"

Abi nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Were you aware your husband-" Agent Takahashi went to say but his mouth stopped when he felt a hand touch his lightly. When he looked down, the man saw Kagome's fingers touching him. He lowered his brows in confusion.

Kagome gave a light shake of her head. She knew where Inuyasha was headed but she felt they couldn't approach a question such as that head-on. They needed to set it up first. The young agent's blue eyes made contact with the warm amber ones of the superior agents.

Inuyasha silently understood what was being asked of him and, without hesitation, he nodded his consent to her. He needed to see how Higurashi-san would handle her first interrogation, wanted to see if she could pass a test she didn't even know she was taking in his mind.

"Fujiwara-sama," Kagome softly said, "how was your relationship with your husband recently?"

For the first time, Abi looked up from the table at the agents. Her eyes were no longer flat; they beheld confusion and something else Kagome couldn't name. Fear, maybe? What was she afraid of?

"It was . . . normal," the widow stated. "It was a little strained since our work schedules has made it difficult for us to see each other but it's nothing we haven't experienced before."

Kagome had taken out her own notepad from an inner pocket of her jacket and began to jot down notes. "And your daughter? Is everything okay with her?"

"Kanna?" Abi's voice rose an octave in surprise. "Kanna is an honors student who has never gotten into trouble since she was a baby. Our daughter is . . . was . . . rarely a stressor for us."

The young woman offered Abi a smile. "I'm glad to hear it. We're going to make sure you and your daughter are carefully looked after. I can tell you and your husband loved her a lot."

The corner of Abi's mouth twitched up for barely a second. "Yes, I do."

"There is one more question I need to ask you. Bear in mind that I am just asking to narrow down suspects for your husband's murder and I ask that you do not get offended."

The widow raised an eyebrow. "Of course, anything I can do to help."

"Was there any possibility that you were aware or suspected your husband was having an affair?"

Abi's thin eyebrows raised high, stretching her face unflatteringly. Emotions flitted so quickly across her face that neither Kagome nor Inuyasha could catch them. The only male in the room was thoroughly confused by this reaction. She didn't seem . . . surprised, exactly.

After long moments of silence, Abi sighed heavily, sinking back into her chair and dropping her chin to her chest in a defeated position. "Yes. I've known for a long time."

Kagome nodded as she made a note. "How long have you known?"

The older woman licked her lips again. "Two years."

"Do you know with who?"

"No. Never cared to."

Inuyasha had to suppress a frown in order to keep his face blank. Her nervous habit was back and her answers were becoming shorter and choppier. They had gotten all they were going to get out of Fujiwara Abi, at least for today. It was time for him to jump back in.

"Thank you for your information, Fujiwara-sama. Would you mind waiting while I go get a statement form?" Inuyasha asked.

Abi shook her head.

Takahashi glanced at Kagome before getting up to let her know to stay here. He briskly walked out of the room, to his office to grab a statement form that he had to unbury from the messy shit pile on his desk, and return to the young agent and widow.

He placed the paper in front of Abi on the table and handed her a pen to write with. Never taking her eyes from the table once again, the older woman scooped up the pen to write her statement quickly.

Inuyasha read it back to her after she was finished, confirming that everything was accurate to the best of her knowledge. He then stood to signal the interrogation was over. Kagome scrambled to follow suit and shove her notepad back into her pocket.

"Thank you so much for coming back today Fujiwara-sama. We're sorry about what has happened to your family. Security is waiting for you outside." Inuyasha jerked his head towards the door and waited for Abi to exit ahead of them.

Outside the interrogation room, Inuyasha leaned against the white wall, watching Abi quickly stride down the hallway. Kagome stood on the adjacent wall, arms crossed.

"She was telling the truth," the young agent observed. "That much is certain."

Takahashi nodded. "Yeah but she was nervous. She kept licking her lips at certain points and her answers were short after you mentioned the affair. Something is going on with her but she's shutting down. She won't answer any more questions from us right now."

"I think we should interview the daughter," Kagome suggested. "She could know something Abi doesn't or willing to tell us something Abi won't."

"Not a bad idea. She's legally an adult now so there's no ethics against us interrogating her. We'll find a day to bring her in."

The black-haired woman shook her head. "No. We go to her. Bringing her in will just make her nervous. Teenagers need to feel like they have control in the situation if they're going to tell you anything. We have to make her feel that if she's going to tell us anything."

Inuyasha had to suppress a proud smirk; the wench was quick on her feet to think. "Alright, we'll set it up." Kicking off the wall, the demon strode down the hallway away from his apprentice. He heard her quickly catching up to him. "I think I'm going to go get some food. I'm fucking starving," he commented. "Process that statement, put it in the file, and fill in Tachibana-san and Wolf Shit."

"Yes, sir," Kagome affirmed. She was a little put out. Did she do well? Did she screw up? She had no way of knowing from his cool demeanor! She dejectedly went to sit at her desk right next to Tachibana-sama's. She wasn't there at the moment, however.

"Oh, and Higurashi-san?"

At the call of her name, Kagome's head jerked up in surprise from the statement to see Inuyasha standing a few feet away with a smirk gracing his features, causing his amber eyes to glow brightly.

When Inuyasha saw she was listening, her eyes so wide they looked like a deer caught in headlights, his smirk widened. "Good work in there," he praised quickly before turning to leave.

A smile broke out across Kagome's face as she collapsed back in her chair in relief and giving it an excited spin that she just couldn't resist. Maybe she could get on Special Agent Takahashi's good side after all!

* * *

Updated on: February 17, 2018


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _InuYasha_.

* * *

 **Date: February 5, 2016**

 **12:00 A.M.**

Inuyasha flipped though the case file that was slowly growing for what felt like the one-hundredth time.

 _Fujiwara Hakudoshi:_

 _Age: Forty-two_

 _Sex: Male_

 _Description: White hair, purple eyes, height of 5'5"_

 _Occupation: Minister of the Environment_

 _Family Affiliations: Husband to Fujiwara Abi and father to Fujiwara Kanna. Father deceased as of 2011 and mother deceased as of 1979. No other family affiliations known as this time._

 _Status:_ _Deceased_

The case file contained other information about the case, such as date, time, and location of death, various scribbled notes that Inuyasha himself placed inside, as well as the autopsy report done by Miroku and evidence collection done by Sango and Koga. Abi's statement from the interview he and Kagome conducted was also shoved inside. The half-demon spent more time than necessary staring at the report Kagome had written on the interview, documenting every piece of information the newly-made widow had given them in great detail. He couldn't help but be impressed; most rookies were unable to write a coherent sentence, let alone a fully detailed report.

It was Sunday night and all Inuyasha did over the weekend was read over the case file, drink beer, and think about his young apprentice. Usually rookies had a knack for getting on his bad side, and he rarely even gave the fumbling idiots the time of day, but this one was impressing him more and more with her knowledge and spunk. Not only did Higurashi hand him his ass (and, yes, even Inuyasha had to admit he deserved it the first day they had met), but she also had this desire to prove herself to anyone who dared question her. Inuyasha had done exactly that, when he told her that he didn't want the little wench to fuck up his investigation, and Higurashi not only demonstrated skills during the interview with Abi that would be useful, but she also demonstrated that she wasn't going to take his shit. Inuyasha could respect that.

Besides her intelligence, which the profiler expected from any member of his team, Inuyasha couldn't help notice that she was . . . pretty. Okay, maybe more than pretty. After all, he wasn't _blind_. Higurashi-san's big, sapphire doe eyes seemed to stare into his very core, unveiling every thought that Inuyasha had about her. Her fiery words that she lashed him with escaped from soft, pink, plump lips that rested right under a little button nose. Her heart-shaped face was framed by raven waves that cascaded past her shoulders. He didn't even dare think about the rest of her; Higurashi-san's face was an innocent thing to think about . . . The rest of her wasn't.

Inuyasha doubted he was attracted-in a romantic way-to the young woman. Just because she was attractive didn't mean he wanted anything past a work relationship. A romantic relationship with Higurashi would be a serious abuse of power on his part. At least, that's the excuse Takahashi was going to tell himself. He respected the young woman way too much to see her as some sexual workplace object. He would leave his attraction to her as nothing more than thinking she was pretty. That was the responsible and appropriate thing to do. After all, what would a beautiful young woman want to do with him? Nada, that's what.

As he watched the clock flip over to twelve a.m., Inuyasha decided he may as well try to get some sleep before work. Flipping the case file closed for the final time and throwing it on his bedside table, the agent flicked off his bedroom light, throwing his small apartment into complete darkness.

 **xXx**

"Mama, I _told_ you, I'm going to come see you soon. You know I'm just getting settled into my new apartment. I didn't have the time this weekend."

"Oh, I know, darling, and I don't mean to bug you, I just missed you so much!" Kagome's mother crooned through the cellphone speaker.

The young woman couldn't help the smile that crept across her face as she finished the last bit of paint on her toenails. "I missed you, too, Mama. I promise to come see you next weekend."

"Take your time, sweetie. I know you're busy with your new job. How is my little agent doing?" Mrs. Higurashi gushed.

Kagome rolled her eyes at her mother's affection. "I'm not an _official_ agent yet, Mom. I still technically hold trainee credentials until my paperwork rolls over. I finished the FBI Academy training in America, but since I transferred over into the Japan division, it takes a while for the paperwork to process between the two agencies."

"Ah, I understand. Do you like who you work with?" Her mother asked in a tone that parents used after their kids got back from their first da of school, when they wanted to know if the other children played nicely.

Kagome hesitated before answering. Over the two days she had started working, everyone seemed friendly. Tachibana-sama was already a delight to work with, as she and Kagome seemed to have lots to talk about, and Ōkami-sama was always quick to help whenever she had a question.

 _A little too quick, actually,_ Kagome thought notably.

Takahashi-sama, however, was a little more questionable. She wasn't sure if he liked her or not, but she was pretty confident in the fact that she had a long way to go before she completely got on his good side. Takahashi-sama seemed confident in his work. Kagome admired that and wanted to impress him. In fact, his confidence didn't add up with what happened seven years ago.

"Yeah, I do," Kagome finally responded. "My supervisor is a bit hard to impress but my other team members are pretty friendly. Everyone at the office is welcoming, too."

"I just hope this job goes well for you, sweetie. After what happened during your internship-"

"That won't happen again," she snapped, cutting off her mother effectively. "I won't let anything else try to jeopardize my future. I'm here to become an official investigator and that's exactly what I'm going to do. My job is the only thing that matters."

Mrs. Higurashi stayed silent for a moment before responding, "Just be careful, sweetie. Okay?"

Kagome sighed. "I promise, Mama. I gotta go. See you soon."

With parting words of love, she hung up the phone and threw it on her bed sheet. Tucking her knees into her chest, Kagome thought of what was to come. She had been reading through some of her notes she brought home about the Fujiwara case, looking over the given information and trying to make sense of everything. Fujiwara-sama had a lover. That much was certain. Apart from that, there wasn't really any motive behind his murder. So that left limited options as to who committed the crime: The wife, Fujiwara Abi, the lover, whose name was unknown, or a possible boyfriend or husband of the lover. With nothing but the semen to go on to find Fujiwara-sama's lover, and with no DNA matches to come from NDIS, finding out who that person was wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Kagome had called Abi on Friday before she left the office to ask her permission to interview her daughter, Kanna. She could be the one to fill in missing blanks for the case. If not, she and Inuyasha were in it for the long haul and were going to have to interview every single cabinet member and the Prime Minister, if it came to that, for more possible leads.

 _This case is going to take some serious elbow grease_ , Kagome mused bitterly as she popped the cap off of her beer, draining it quickly.

Before the young agent knew it, it was twelve a.m. She had been staring at her notes again, the kanji scrawled across the pages slowly becoming memorized in her brain. Kagome would learn every corner of this case in order to solve it. She and the rest of the team would leave no stone unturned.

With that final thought and a yawn, Kagome flipped off her bedside lamp. She had to be up early in order to get to the office so she could meet Takahashi-sama. They had a meeting with Chief Takahashi-sama to bring him up to speed on the case before setting out to interview Kanna. The case was picking up; reporters from all over Tokyo and even beyond were flocking to dredge up more information on the high-profile homicide. All eyes would be on Chief Takahashi-sama and those who worked on this case.

Kagome had to be able to keep up, and in order to do that, she needed plenty of beauty sleep.

 **8:05 A.M.**

When Takahashi arrived at the office, he had to do a double-take when he found the young woman who had been dominating his thoughts as of late standing in front of his door. He stopped in his tracks as she leaned against the lock door in her usual attire of a white button down shirt and black pants underneath a thick jacket. The difference today was that her hair was piled into a loose knot with tendrils falling from it, bringing his attention to the pale expanse of her neck. The agent swallowed hard at the sight.

Hearing his arrival, Kagome looked up from the floor to gaze at him, a small smile spread across her lips. "Coffee, Takahashi-sama?" The young woman held the cup out to him. "I picked it up from this morning so it's not the poor excuse of coffee they have here."

Inuyasha couldn't help the small twitch of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he walked over, tucked the case file that was in his hand under his arm, and accepted the cup. It was steaming hot, warming his hand from the freezing temperature he just came out of. "Thanks. How long have you been waiting?"

"Not long. About fifteen minutes. I remembered we have a meeting with Chief Takahashi-sama this morning so I didn't want to be late."

"Why not? I always am," he grouched. The coffee slid smoothly down his throat like silk, very unlike the tar they served here. Inuyasha was grateful for the thoughtfulness of the young agent.

Kagome giggled, trying to hide it behind a sip of coffee. "Then why are you here on time?" she teased.

 _Probably because I actually looked forward to coming into the office for the first time in a while._ "This is the first high-profile case I've worked in a long time. This isn't the case for me to show my ass on."

Sobering up, Kagome nodded in understanding. This is what she resolved to herself last night: To be as hardworking as her supervisor was. Even though Takahashi-sama was a complete jerk about ninety-percent of the time, he made up for it by doing his best on the job. Even in the short time Kagome was there, she could see that. She hoped she would get to see it more.

"Speaking of Sesshy, we need to head that way now. It won't look good for us to be late." With that, he motioned for Higurashi-san to follow him and continued down the hallway.

Kagome had to run a little to catch up with his purposeful stride. "Sesshy?" she questioned.

Inuyasha made the mistake of glancing at her. Her blue eyes were gazing up at him with curiosity. He saw an innocence in those depths that he hadn't seen in a long time. He regretted the day that innocence would be extinguished. _Well, that's part of the job_ , he rationalized.

Quickly looking away, Inuyasha grumbled, "Sesshomaru - the Chief's name. I call him 'Sesshy' to annoy the shit out of him but I wouldn't advise you call him that . . . ever. Stick to 'Chief' or 'Captain' and you'll get along fine. Well, not get along, but he'll tolerate you."

"I've only talked to him on the phone. I've never spoken to him in person."

"You aren't missing much. I would prefer to talk to him over the phone. Or not at all, actually."

Kagome raised a curious eyebrow. She knew that the chief and profiler were brothers and she was curious to see how their relationship would work out. She stayed silent as they continued their journey to the first meeting of the day.

When they arrived, the Chief's door was open. Standing behind Takahashi-sama (a bit nervously if she had to admit), Kagome glanced around the profiler's arm. The older man sitting behind the desk caused Kagome to gasp lightly in shock. The resemblance to Inuyasha was striking. Takahashi Sesshomaru dominated the room instantly- that was the first thing she noticed. Wavy bangs and silver tendrils that were longer and straighter than Inuyasha's framed his form and a finely pressed suit adorned his body.

The younger brother knocked on the doorframe, signaling that they were coming in. When Chief Takahashi-sama looked up, a chill went through Kagome's body at the look of his eyes. Unlike Inuyasha, Sesshomaru's golden eyes were freezing with no emotion behind them. There were also jagged, purple markings on his cheeks and a moon on the center of his forehead.

 _I_ _'ve never seen a demon with markings like that before_ , Kagome mused. The demons she met in America were not as obvious seen due to regional differences. Japan was more accepting of their demon population; American demons tended to have to tone down their demonic features in order to blend in more. Seeing a demon again with such blatant features was refreshing. It reminded her of the environment that she grew up in.

"I assume you're not just going to stand there staring all day."

At the sound of the chilly voice, Kagome sobered up enough to see both of the Takahashi brothers looking at her in annoyance.

She swallowed nervously, unable to prevent the blush spreading across her cheeks. "Uh- no, I'm not. S-sorry . . ." _Honestly, why am I stammering?! Get it together, Kagome. You didn't work you ass off just to make yourself look like an idiot!_

Chief Takahashi-sama's face remained stoic. "Come on in and take a seat."

Inuyasha took the lead and sat down. Once again, his brother had captured another woman's attention. He was slightly taken aback- he didn't expect Higurashi-san to lose her cool over . . . well . . . Sesshomaru. The half-demon was slightly miffed that when he first met the young woman, she acted like he was just another person. _Why should she act any different? After all, I'm not really worth the attention of someone like her_ , Inuyasha grouched. Actually, why did her attention matter? Why was he even thinking about this?

. . . Right.

"I assume you know why you're here," the Chief began. "I need to know where you are with the case so far."

"About as far as we can be," Inuyasha replied, dumping the case file onto Sesshy's desk. "Miroku came back with the autopsy report, as well as the results for the semen. Nothing was found in NDIS, so we're going to start from scratch on this one. Cause of death was a shot to the head with what seems to be a small handgun. Sango should be getting back ballistics results today or tomorrow."

Sesshomaru perused through the file as Inuyasha spoke. "I see you interviewed the wife first. Anything there?"

"Not much. She made a statement; said she knew her husband was having an affair but she was at the hospital at the time of the murder. I called there on Friday. Her alibi checks out. However, she definitely has something to hide, not that she'll tell us. That's why we're going to interview the daughter today. She could have something."

The Chief made no comment, only a noncommittal grunt. "How did you figure out Fujiwara-sama had a lover? You had it in your notes before the results for the semen came back."

"That's my note, Sir."

Kagome felt all eyes on her and she had to fight the urge not to shrink from the two golden stares fixed on her.

Inuyasha raised a confused brow. _I forgot she put that in there . . ._

"Your note?" Chief Takahashi-sama hummed. "How did you figure that out, then? From what the crime scene images show me, there isn't much to go on."

The agent-in-training swallowed hard. _This is the moment I can redeem myself!_

"Well, there was a fifty-fifty shot that the semen was Fujiwara-sama's, but I knew it definitely didn't belong to his wife. It was too fresh. My intuition told me that he had to have a lover, and either that person killed Fujiwara-sama or someone who was jealous of their relationship is the perp," Kagome explained.

All the oxygen sucked out of her lungs as Chief Takahashi-sama stared at her. Even Takahashi-sama seemed tense. Did she do something wrong? Kagome just told him what she thought . . . wasn't that what she was supposed to do?

Inuyasha had no idea how his brother would react to that. The whole lover theory was literally just a hunch and Sesshy didn't do well with hunches. He wanted hard facts all the time; it was one of the reasons he was so hard to impress.

Sesshomaru said nothing as he closed the file with a flick of his hand and placed it on his desk. After a few moments of silence, he stated, "I like it. I'll read over this, along with the other cases I need to review. Follow that lead. Get back to work."

"Yes, Sir!" Kagome exclaimed, shooting out of her chair and bowing before her chief.

Inuyasha flicked his astonished gaze from Higurashi-san to his older brother, momentarily catching a smirk on the bastard's face. The only woman who Sesshomaru ever even remotely smiled at was Rin. _Who the fuck is this girl?_

With a simple nod because he was too stunned for words, the younger demon rose from his chair and half-walked, half-stumbled out of the room. Sesshomaru was impressed by a trainee's intuition? Deciding to drop it for now, though, Inuyasha made the mental note to ask Sesshy about it later. He didn't need the distraction.

"Are we going to go interview Fujiwara-san now?" Kagome asked when Inuyasha caught up with her. Her mood had lightened considerably; she had seemed to impress her boss! She was practically on cloud nine!

Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah. We'll take my car, if that's alright with you."

"Well, considering mine doesn't exist, I'm all for it," Kagome joked.

He raised a dark eyebrow at her. "You don't own a car?"

Kagome shrugged. "I didn't bother buying one when I moved to America. So I just use the taxi system or bus service to get around. Or my bike, depending on how far I'm going."

Inuyasha wanted to ask more about her time in America but decided against it. The less he knew about her, the better. "Wait in the lobby for me," he instructed. "I'll let Sango and Koga know we're leaving now."

"Yes, Sir."

Turning on his heel, Inuyasha strode towards the cubicles where most of the agents worked. If there was one thing he was grateful for since his promotion to profiler, it was that he was able to have his own office. It was easier to think clearly when you weren't surrounded by overwhelming smells and sounds.

"Hey," he called as he approached the two evidence specialists.

Sango looked up from her desk with a warm smile. "Good morning, Inuyasha."

"Morning, Sango," he greeted back.

She raised an eyebrow. "You seem to be in a better mood this morning."

Did he? It didn't seem like he was acting any different than any other morning. _Do I not usually tell anyone, "Good morning"_ _?_

Koga let out a snort. "I bet he finally lost his virginity."

Inuyasha was suddenly tempted to take the stick out of the wolf demon's ass and ram it down his throat. "Higurashi-san and I are about to head out. I need you two to get a couple of things done while we're gone. Sango, I need you to go and collect the bullet from Miroku's lab and get it down to ballistics. Have them run the tests so we can find what kind of gun we're looking for."

Sango let out a low groan. "Why do I have to go to the lab?"

"Yeah, I know you don't like going, but you have some knowledge on ballistics so I'm hoping you can help speed up finding a result."

With a reluctant sigh, she conceded to Inuyasha's request and made a note.

"Koga, I need you to look over the rest of the evidence again, see if you can find anything that has been overlooked before. Also, I need you to go through the other cabinet member's background to see if they have anything worth noting that could make them a suspect. I want this done before I get back. We'll have more work to do later today."

Koga nodded. "You got it, Mutt."

The word perturbed the older agent, making him suppress a growl. "You're lucky I've known you long enough at I won't kick your ass for calling me that."

A wolfish grin spread across his face. "You know it's a term of endearment."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Just get your shit done," he grumbled before quickly making his way back to his trainee. She was waiting for him in a chair next to the front doors. She stood and he nodded his head for him to follow him out to the parking lot. They remained silent as they made their way to the car and he noticed that Higurashi-san shivered and buried herself impossibly further into her jacket. He hit the button to unlock his car doors, quickly turning on the engine and the heat up to full blast.

Kagome took note of the action and shot her supervisor a smile. "Thank you, Takahashi-sama."

He nodded but stayed silent, too engrossed in his thoughts to respond verbally. How the hell was he different? And how did Sango even pick up on something that small? _Must be a woman thing,_ he surmised. Whatever it was that made him so "different", Inuyasha had the feeling that the woman in the car had something to do with it.

"Your brother was different than I thought he would be."

That got his attention. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "What did you expect?"

"Well, he looked younger than I expected and way more attractive, but I didn't expect him to be so . . . cold," Higurashi-san admitted.

He snorted to cover up the growl that crawled up his vocal chords as a result of her thinking his brother was attractive. "That asshole's always been like that, for as long as I can remember. The only time I've ever seen him show emotion was when he found out his wife was pregnant."

Kagome raised an eyebrow this time. "I didn't see him being a family man."

Inuyasha chuckled. "No one did. I honestly never knew Sesshy paid any attention to, well, anyone. But when he married a human that got everyone's attention. I know it shocked the hell out of me."

"What does it matter that he married a human?"

"He doesn't really like humans. He'll work with them and tolerate them but Sesshomaru always thought they were beneath him. I don't know how Rin managed to change his mind, considering he's the most emotionally-stunted being I've ever met, but she's a great woman. She makes sure I don't go hungry."

Kagome smiled wide. "So is she still pregnant or what?"

"She's due any minute, has been having contractions for days. But they both insist on a natural birth so she doesn't want to just go ahead and have a C-section."

The young woman went silent for a moment. A burning curiosity coursed through her but she was almost afraid to ask. While Chief Takahashi-sama was attractive in a powerful, contained way, her supervisor was undeniably good-looking in a very raw way. A way that was surprising, uncontrolled, and even a little intimidating. It took Kagome aback every time she looked at him; she couldn't help but drink in his defined bone structure, blazing eyes, and dog ears. Those little triangles that sat atop his head were unlike anything she had seen before but also adorable.

Kagome found the strength to speak. "Are you married?"

If he was surprised by the question, Takahashi-sama didn't show it. The only indication he gave that he heard her was a flick of his eyes in her direction.

"No," he answered quietly. "No wife, no kids."

She nodded. Kagome felt like there was more behind that sentence but she didn't pry. Her curiosity would stay just that: a curiosity. Answers were often dangerous. If there was anything outside of the criminal world that her internship taught her, it was to keep her work relationships strictly on a work basis. Getting personal only led to trouble and she didn't intend to throw her future away. Kagome could think Takahashi-sama was attractive- after all, it was only human of her- but that's where it ended. Appreciating from afar but never getting personal. That was what she had learned was safe.

"So, uh . . ." Inuyasha swallowed nervously, perplexed by Higurashi-san's silence. He wanted to hear her talk more. "Why don't you take me through what we have so far on the case? Refresh our memories before we talk to the daughter." Never mind the fact he spend all weekend staring at that damn case file . . .

Opening the file sitting on her lap, the female agent-to-be began to read off all they had: Fujiwara-sama was murdered on February 1st, 2016, time of death perceived to be in between one and two in the morning, according to Miroku's autopsy report, and cause of death was a medium-to-short range shot to the head from behind. His wife found the body after her hospital shift at four in the morning while the daughter was not present in the house at all. Evidence collected from the scene consisted of blood stains on the bed sheets, as well as semen from someone yet to be identified, as well as the deceased. Other than that, the place was spotless.

"Whoever killed him knew how to clean up after themselves," Kagome murmured in thought.

Takahashi-sama nodded. "Yes. But what else can we conclude from the way the scene was set up and what little evidence there was?"

"Um . . . a lack of struggle?"

"Very good," the profiler praised. "This was definitely a quick job; Fujiwara-sama was caught by surprise. Plus, the only witness we have to this murder is the lover and they have yet to come forward with information. This could indicate they don't want to come forward out of embarrassment for sleeping with a married man- which is natural- or they could have been kidnapped by whoever committed the murder, they committed the murder themselves, or whoever the perp is keeping them quiet somehow."

Kagome shot Takahashi-sama a look. "They doesn't narrow down suspects at all. We can also look at missing person's reports that come through the police force. Whoever Fujiwara-sama had an affair with could have been kidnapped by the unsub."

"Fuck," Inuyasha growled lowly. "This shit is getting more and more complicated."

Sighing in agreement, Kagome begrudgingly went through the rest of the file. She desperately hoped that the interview with the daughter gave them something more to go on.

The pair arrived at the house that the mother and daughter were staying in. It was much more modest than the house that Fujiwara-sama owned. Abi's mother clearly came from more humbled means. Inuyasha felt more comfortable walking into this home than the other one; which was ironic, considering he always felt more comfortable in a crime scene than anywhere else. A crime scene was predictable for him.

"Welcome," Abi's mother greeted the agents as they took off their shoes in the doorway. Her voice was raspy and hoarse, clearly showing her age and smoking habits.

"Abi apologizes for not being able to greet you today," the elderly woman continued, "but she is having to take care of planning the rest of Hakudoshi's funeral."

Inuyasha waved his hand dismissively. "It's no problem, we understand. We're just saddened by the family's loss."

"That is very kind of you to say. If you would follow me, Kanna is waiting in the sitting area for you."

They followed the old woman down a long hallway and into the sitting room. A young girl was sitting at a low table on a cushion, her legs tucked under her body. She was unusually pale and had stark-white hair, very similar to her father's, that reached her waist. Her most striking feature, though, was her pitch-black eyes that stared up at Inuyasha and Kagome, piercing them both with a deadly cold stare.

"Fujiwara Kanna?" Inuyasha's voice sounded way too small under the stare of the young girl.

Kanna nodded. "That's me. Feel free to take a seat. I've prepared some tea for us."

As they sat, Kagome couldn't help but think that the girl sitting before them seemed way too old; Kanna was supposed to be sixteen but the person before them had the air of a thirty year old. Kagome understood; she also had always been mature for her age.

"Thank you for meeting with us," Inuyasha began. "I know this isn't easy, especially since it's such a short time after your father's passing. We'll make this as quick as possible."

Kanna shrugged with indifference. "It's your job, isn't it? I don't know how I can help you find my father's killer, though. I don't know anything."

"It's routine to interview anyone surrounding the case," the profiler explained. "Besides, it's common for people to help us with a case even if they think they're not, one way or another."

Kanna's lip twitched up in a smirk. "Meaning even I could be a suspect."

Inuyasha choked on a sip of his tea at the question. "You're very shrewd," he replied honestly. He had a feeling trying to sugar-coat shit wouldn't get them anywhere with this girl.

She shrugged again. "I'm not dumb," she murmured.

 _Noted_ , he thought. _She's also a little too calm_. Taking out a notepad and pen, Inuyasha prepared to begin questioning the young girl. Kagome hadn't said a word since they stepped into the house but he figured she was just being attentive, taking in everything around her.

"You were at a friend's house the night of the murder, correct? Can you verify the times you were there?" Inuyasha inquired.

"Yeah, I went over to my friend Shiori's after school that day. I stayed the whole night, or at least until Mom picked up to tell me what happened, which was around five a.m. or so. You can call and ask her if you want proof I was there."

"We'll make a note of it, thank you. What can you say your home environment was like?"

"Normal."

Inuyasha raised a curious eyebrow at the simple response. "Want to elaborate that?"

"I mean, nothing abnormal was happening before the murder. Dad wasn't at home a lot, and if he was, then he always came home late. He and Mom didn't see each other very much, since she was usually at the hospital by the time he came home. I went about my normal routine of going to school, doing homework, and occasionally going over to a friend's house." Kanna's face turned cold again. "Oh, and you can't forget that daddy was having an affair with a woman half his age. We're a very stereotypical family."

Kagome's eyes widened at the nonchalant statement. "So you were aware your father was having an affair . . .?"

Kanna snorted. "It wasn't much a secret. When you find a pair of panties that your middle-aged mother definitely wouldn't wear, it's not hard to figure out. My parents get along but they haven't been in love in a long time."

"Do you know the identity of the woman your father was having an affair with?" Kagome asked.

"No," she shook her head. "I never saw her in person or never knew anything about her. I just know my dad was with a woman who wasn't my mother. That's as far as I wanted to know. It . . . hurt my mother for a long time."

"You seem very close with your mother," the female agent observed.

"My father wasn't exactly around for most of my life. I mean, he was in the home, but he always pulled long hours so he kind of missed on the whole raising-a-kid experience. My mother was all I had when she stayed home with me."

"Do you know anything that could help us find who murdered your father?" Inuyasha asked. Kanna had been great at setting up the scene for her home environment; maybe they could use that to their advantage. But they needed _more_.

Kanna thought for a minute, taking sips of her tea as she did so. "Honestly, I don't know much. I tried to remain oblivious of whatever was going on in my parents' lives, especially my father's. But there was one incident a while ago . . . Let's say, sometime late last year, I think? My dad had a day off from the office and I was a home after school, watching T.V. He was doing some work on his computer in the dining room when someone knocked on the door. I ignored it. Dad often had other Cabinet members he was close with over at the house for drinks, so I didn't give it much thought. People actually really liked him.

"What really got me listening, though, is that the guy who came to the house seemed to be _yelling_ at my dad. I found this odd, since I thought he was well-liked. I couldn't see him where I was sitting in the living room," she finished.

Inuyasha wrote quickly, making detailed notes of the incident.

"Could you make out anything they were saying?" Kagome asked.

The teen hesitated before answering, "The guy said something about how he wouldn't let some act pass, so I'm guessing it's whatever my dad was working on at the time for work."

"You don't know what that would be?"

Kanna shook her head. "I know it sounds bad, but I distanced myself from Dad's work as much as possible. I didn't want anything to do with that. Looking back, I should have asked him about it . . ."

"Why is that?" Inuyasha inquired, cocking his head to the side in curiosity.

"Because," Kanna muttered as she ran her finger around the lip of her cup, "whoever was at the door that day, they said they would make my dad pay."

* * *

Updated on: February 17, 2018


	4. Chapter 4

**For disclaimer purposes, please read this before you start reading:** There's some terminology in this chapter that some may be unfamiliar with so I'm going to leave some definitions for clarification purposes.

Rifling: the spiral grooves that are formed in the bore of a firearm barrel and makes a projectile spin when fired.

Calibre: diameter of the bore of a rifled firearm. Calibre is usually expressed in hundredths of an inch or millimeter (ex: 9 mm).

Striations: twist marking left on bullet from rifling.

Breech: the base of the barrel but not the back of the gun. It's on the inside, not on the outside, and it's the part that leaves an imprint on the bullet when it's fired.

 **Side note:** ONCE AGAIN I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT BALLISTICS OR THE BLACK MARKET OR WHAT HAVE YOU SO DON'T SUE ME.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _InuYasha_ or else he and Kagome would be getting it on all the time.

* * *

 **Date: February 6, 2016**

 **12: 30 P.M.**

It was finally Friday and Kagome could not be more relieved. After staying up many nights since the day she started her new job, she looked forward to sleeping in on the weekend. Of course she loved her job - it was her dream – but she was also going to love cozying up in her warm, plush bed.

It was lunch time, and after spending her morning writing the report from the interview with Kanna yesterday (she noticed that Inuyasha didn't enjoy writing reports so she was happy to do them), Kagome decided to grab food for herself, Koga, and Sango. She had asked Inuyasha if he wanted anything but he had already gobbled up three cups of ramen for himself in the break room.

Running back to the cubicles, the young woman dropped Koga's lunch on his desk. The wolf had his feet propped up on his desk, his hand behind his head, and his eyes closed.

 _Is he working hard or hardly working?_ Kagome internally mused.

The other evidence specialist, she noticed next, was missing.

"Where's Sango-sama?" Kagome inquired.

Koga's sapphire eyes shot open as soon as the words left Kagome's mouth. He lunged for the food, opening the top of the box and grabbing his chopsticks to dive in.

"In the ballistics lab," the wolf demon replied at last between mouthfuls of food. "Want me to take you there?"

"Are you sure? You're eating-"

"Nope, I'm done," Koga slurped, wolfishly licking his lips.

The action made Kagome giggle. "I suppose you can take me there then."

He nodded and kicked back from his desk, his body launching with a grace that only demons can possess into the air. He motioned for her to follow him to the left, passing many more cubicles of agents working for different divisions. A few that Kagome had met waved to her, one being a man named Akitoki Hojo, a shy but friendly individual who was a few years older than she. Kagome still had yet to find out what department he worked in.

Following Koga through a labyrinth of hallways, it only took a few minutes to reach the ballistics lab, which was actually just a few rooms down from the lab where Miroku worked. In the back of her mind she had recognized a few of the rooms they had passed, but as Kagome was still learning how to navigate the building, she did not mind having the escort.

"Here we are," Koga announced cheerfully when the pair reached the door. "She won't be able to eat in there but I'm sure Sango won't mind knowing her food is here."

Kagome nodded in understanding. "Thanks for bringing me here, Koga-sama. I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Higurashi-san. We're all here to help." Koga's icy orbs beamed down at her, a friendly air swirling in their depths.

"Hey, if I get to call you by your first names, feel free to do the same with me. Kagome works just fine," she politely replied.

If possible, his eyes beamed brighter. "Sure, thing, Kagome." Koga took a step back from the door, silently telling her he was taking his leave.

With a smile and nod to Koga, Kagome pushed open the door to the ballistics lab. Upon entering, she noted that it was pretty much the same as the one they had in America. Silver tables lined with boxes upon boxes of weapons from multiple crime scenes occupied most of the room. There was also a couple of tables with computers on them and an enclosed water tank that you could fire a bullet into in order to identify rifling. There were also tables on the far side of the room with microscopes. This allows ballistics experts to observe the grooves, striations, and any other identifying marks of a bullet in order to match it to a particular gun.

Sango was in the middle of the room at one of the silver tables with evidence atop it, wearing a white coat and goggles with her hair pulled into a high ponytail. When she heard the door closed, the older female agent looked up.

"Ah, Kagome," she greeted with a smile, "you're back. I'm assuming that means lunch is ready?"

She nodded, Sango's contagious smile making Kagome form one of her own.

"That's right," she stated while stepping further into the room. "I didn't know you worked ballistics, too."

Sango let out a noncommittal hum. "More like I dabble in it. I took a lot of ballistics courses in college because they interested me, but when I was hired here they needed more evidence specialists," She explained. "Right now, the woman who usually works ballistics is on maternity leave and Hosinki is on his lunch break. So I'm taking advantage of the lab while he's out."

"You can't use it while he's in here?" Kagome inquired.

"He's a dick," Sango stated bluntly. "I just personally don't like being around him. Usually, he gets in the way of me trying to work. He's territorial of his space like that, since he's been here for years."

Leaning across the table towards Kagome, she whispered, "It's also because I'm a woman, though."

Kagome's eyebrows creased in disdain at the notion. "But he works with a woman . . ."

"He puts up with Shiori because she's good at what she does and he knows that. She was way more qualified for this job than I was, and she has a lot more patience to put up with him."

Kagome couldn't help but giggle at the other woman's bluntness. "Everyone's so nice here, though. It's a breath of fresh air, not having to experience as much workplace sexism."

Sango nodded in agreement. "It definitely exists, especially with the older generation, but the more qualified women that are hired, people accept it just a little bit more. It's not perfect but women getting hired in this field as often as they do now is making leaps and bounds. Hosinki is just one of those old farts that are also old fashioned.

"It's also nice to have another woman on the team, too." She gave Kagome a wink.

"It's nice to be a part of a team that welcomed me so easily," the young agent gushed. "It's hard to find such ready acceptance in this field sometimes."

"Koga and Inuyasha may seem like they're giant assholes sometimes, but they welcomed me from day one. And the chief . . . Well, Chief doesn't care as long as you get the job done."

 _That's reassuring_ , Kagome thought. _I don't really want a repeat of last time._ Being pulled into a darker train of thought, she hardly noticed when Sango began speaking again.

"Speaking of the job," Sango began, picking up a bullet from an evidence bag, "we need to find out what this little sucker is."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Is that the bullet found from the Fujiwara scene?"

The other female nodded. "Sure is. Now, let's take a look at him and then we can eat!"

Almost skipping excitedly, Sango made her way over to the microscopes. She sat down on a stool and put the warped object underneath the lens.

"We don't have the gun that was used, so I can't test the rifling on it," she murmured, almost to herself more so than the other female in the room.

Kagome made her way over to stand next to Sango, but was careful to not get too close in fear of invading her space too much. "What's the caliber?"

"Looks like a nine millimeter," she replied softly, distracted from being in thought. "The thing is, citizens of Japan aren't generally allowed to carry weapons, and the caliber shows that it wasn't a police-issued gun. So where'd it come from?"

"Black Market? Gang? Either of those wouldn't make it hard for someone to get their hands on a gun."

Sango sat up from the microscope and looked to Kagome. "Maybe a gang did this? Someone could have put a hit out on Fujiwara and hired a gang to do the job."

"It's probable but not likely," Kagome answered. "Kanna said that someone threatened her father over an act that he was trying to pass. That means we have to assume it was another Cabinet member that did the job. Sure, they could have hired a gang to do it, but affiliating yourself with them can be risky, especially for political figures."

"It's not uncommon for people to hire outside men-for-hires for this kind of thing, though. Which that circles back around to Black Market. Someone could have bought the gun themselves or hired someone through the Black Market who uses that type of gun."

"We need to look at the most commonly bought handgun on the Black Market then," Kagome stated. "Can I look at the bullet for a second?"

"Sure, go ahead." Sango obliged her by sliding off the stool and going over to the computers.

The younger woman only needed a moment to look. When a cartridge is fired, the explosion forces the bullet down the barrel and the shell casing is forced back against the breech. This leaves impressions unique to the individual gun's breech on the shell casing. Kagome wasn't an expert on ballistics or guns by any means, but part of her internship taught her a little about how to observe them for evidence purposes.

Matching up the striations and observing the impression of the breech from the gun, it was definitely a nine millimeter. She was familiar with them from her time in the states.

"Sango, do a search for a type of gun known as glock, please."

"Sure thing," Sango said, her fingers moving quickly over the keys reaching Kagome's ears. After a moment of silence, she began to read, "'The Glock 19 is the most commonly used gun for self-defense with a polymer frame, fifteen shots, and nine millimeter bullets.' And, yes, they can be circulated on the Black Market."

"That's what I thought." Kagome sat up with a nod. "I'm not positive that's it, and we won't know for sure unless we get our hands on the murder weapon, but that one is definitely a possibility."

Sango hummed in agreement. "I'll tell Hosinki to compile a list of nine millimeters that are commonly used and easily available. Our best bet is to keep looking for suspects. Right now, I'm starved! I'll come back and look at what Glock 19's imprints look like on bullets." She took the bullet from Kagome with gloved hands and put it back inside the evidence bag, placing it inside a container that was labeled with a case number for identification. Sango then took of her lab coat and goggles to put them away in their respective places.

The girls walked out of the lab, the smooth door closing behind them with a soft _swish_. As they walked, Kagome felt eyes on her person. Turning her head, she saw the other agent gazing at her.

"What?" she spat out nervously.

Sango shook her head. "Sorry, I was just thinking about how you're kind of a natural at this. Your training must have been quite impressive."

A warm sensation filled Kagome's chest for a moment before a dark cloud crept into her heart and memories she had pushed down invaded her mind.

Covering up her silence, Kagome cheerfully said, "I was definitely lucky."

Inuyasha was pouring over the Fujiwara case file when there was a knock on his office door.

"Come in," he gruffed, putting down Kanna's interview report Higurashi had dropped off earlier when she stopped by to ask if he wanted lunch.

"Detective Takahashi-sama," a high-pitched, female voice floated into the room, "there's someone here to see you."

"Who?" He didn't even look up from the page when he responded.

"A woman named Fujiwara Abi. She said you would know her."

 _Abi? I wonder what's going on._

"Thanks, Nazuna," he said politely as he stood up. "I'll head that way now."

Following the receptionist, Takahashi made his way to the front of the Japanese Task Force building. He didn't expect to see the widowed woman so soon, especially on her own volition. Whatever it was, it was important, and it made the half-demon's skin crawl with anticipation.

Abi was sitting in a chair waiting for him when he arrived. With long strides, he made his way quickly to her.

"Fujiwara-sama," he greeted softly, "this is an unexpected surprise. What brings you here today?"

As soon as she looked up and Inuyasha saw her face, he had to suppress a look of shock on his own countenance. While Abi was by no means glamorous during their last meeting, you could still tell she was a beautiful woman under her tired and stressed exterior. Now, grief was written all over her face. It seems that the toll of her losing her husband and also finding out officially that he was cheating was wearing on the older woman more and more, that was not a mix to be taken lightly. Her face was even paler than before, her eyes had dark, purple circles under them that made them seem even more sunk in. Her dock locks also looked like she had made a half-assed attempt at brushing it, and her designer clothes hung off of her in an unhealthy way. Even though it was freezing outside, Abi only wear a light shawl over her shoulders. No matter how unhappy a marriage they clearly had, Hakudoshi was still her husband, and a part of her clearly missed him.

Abi cleared her throat before speaking. "Kanna told me about your conversation you had with her. Ah, I hope that doesn't get her in trouble . . ."

Inuyasha shook his head in reassurance. "She is minor and you're the legal guardian. What we spoke about wasn't really past regular interrogation questions."

"I see. I only have a few minutes, as I have to get back to funeral arrangements, but Kanna mentioned to me about how a man threated her father. Forgive me, but I forgot my husband told me about the incident until she brought it up."

"Did your husband happen to tell you who it was who came to the house that day?"

Abi nodded. "Yes. It was one of Hakudoshi's fellow Cabinet members, Goda Moryomaru. They had gotten into a disagreement over a bill and Goda-sama overreacted. From what my husband told me later, however, is that everything had blown over and they were on good terms once more. I always thought he was a nice man overall. He and Hakudoshi were actually quite close when my husband became a Cabinet member."

When the widow began to speak, the silver-haired detective had taken out his notepad from his pocket quickly and jotted down the name of the Cabinet member who had threatened Fujiwara. It made no matter that they two men had seemingly patched things up between, the Goda man could still have a motive; gain someone's trust then bust their lights out. Inuyasha had seen it dozens of times, over hundreds of cases.

"Thank you for the information, Fujiwara-sama. This could be a great help to the investigation. Thank your daughter for me again, as well."

Abi bowed, her dark hair spilling to hide her pale face. "Thank you so much, Takahashi-sama. Your dedication to this case helps me sleep better at night."

 _Apparently not_ , Inuyasha added snarkily in thought. "Yeah, no problem."

As he watched Fujiwara Abi exit the task force building, the half-demon suddenly thought that he wasn't doing enough, and that something about this case wasn't going to go over easily. Inuyasha rarely got feelings of dread on a job, and hadn't felt that feeling in a long time, but everything just felt so _off_. And it was frustrating as hell not knowing what it was.

"Higurashi-san!" the profiler bellowed as he was over to her small, cramped desk.

When he reached her, the young women held up a finger to signal that she needed moment, as she was on the phone.

"Yes, thank you very much for your cooperation. Konnichiwa!" Kagome hung up the phone and looked up at her senior detective expectantly. "Yes?"

"Who was that?" he asked gruffly.

"I called the Fujiwaras' daughter's friend, Shiori. She and Shiori's mother confirmed that Kanna was at their house the night of the murder. So she checks out."

Inuyasha blinked, stunned at the apprentice's initiative.

"Oh. Well . . . great," he said blandly. Inuyasha cleared his throat to cover up his surprise. "We got a lead."

Kagome's eyebrows shot up in her surprise at him. "What's the lead? I might have something, too."

"What do you have?"

"We ran ballistics today," Sango piped up as she pushed away from her desk and rolled over to them. "The bullet found in the deceased's head is a nine millimeter, with striations and breeching marks matching that of a Glock 19. Kagome-san suspects it was Black Market imported. Of course, there's really no way of proving that, but they had to get the weapon somehow."

"Good, that gets us somewhere, at least." Inuyasha looked around the cubicle area, becoming slowly annoyed as he was not able to find who he was looking for. "Where the hell is that flea-bitten asshole?"

"Language, Inuyasha," Sango teased. "He's probably slacking off somewhere and chasing ass."

The detective growled at the audacity of not doing your own damn job. "He'll get filled in later then, I guess. I'm not wasting time chasing him down. We need to find a Cabinet member, Goda Moryomaru. He could be a suspect." Looking down at Kagome, he added, "He's the one that threated Fujiwara the day Kanna was talking about. Fujiwara Abi stopped in and told me his name."

"So we need to find out where he lives," Kagome stated.

"Yeah, we'll run a check for his address just in case."

"In case what?" the doe-eyed female asked.

"In case he's not at the Diet building."

Sango was already typing away at her computer, checking the system for a Goda Moryomaru. All Cabinet members had to register with a certain so they could always be found by authorities in case of emergencies, even though they usually had their own security team with them. There was nothing wrong with a little extra safety.

 _Or paranoia by the government, in this case,_ Inuyasha thought.

"Got it," Sango said triumphantly, pulling a piece of paper from the printer. "A basic profile and his address. Do I need to go with you?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "No, stay here and fill the asshole in. I'll call for backup should the situation get out of hand." His golden gaze turned on Higurashi. "Let's go."

Kagome's eyes widened. "Me? But I probably won't be any help-"

"You want the experience, don't ya? This is how you become an agent. Now grab your credentials and a gun. You might need it."

To Kagome, the National Diet building was almost similar in look to the White House that everyone talked about in America. It was a long and tall white building with columns that led up to the entrance, and decorative gardens lined the path through the security gate that Detective Takahashi-sama was able to get through with a flash of his badge. The young agent managed to tear her eyes away from the scenery to look once more at the paper in her lap.

"It says here that he has a wife, Goda Kagura, and that he has been a cabinet member for the House of Representatives for the past three years, so he's in the last year of his term now. But that doesn't really tell us anything," she said. "Nothing really stands out to me."

"Nothing will until we meet him in person," Inuyasha replied as he was directed into a parking space. "What House was Hakudoshi in again?"

"House of Councilors. So they definitely were in close contact with each other."

The detective hummed in response. He was trying his best to not make any assumptions about what had gone on between them until he met the man, but with him having a nose for smelling out the right answer, it was hard for him not to. He took his car keys out of the ignition and shoved them hastily in his pocket.

Kagome had to suppress a moan; she did not want to get out the cold and step into the freezing February air. It was making her more anxious to get into her warm, snuggly bed. But, alas, she had a job to do, and she wanted to get as much field experience while she was still an apprentice and had someone to help her.

The detective and agent stepped out of the car and made their way up the stairs to the entrance of the National Diet building. As soon as they were through the doors, a warm blast of air welcomed them in happily and a secretary greeted the pair cheerfully.

Inuyasha nor Kagome had been inside the National Diet before, and the architecture was nothing short of stunning. Marble floors were laid out beneath their feet, trailing up the wall and stopped where it meet the ceiling, which was large dome above their heads. Everything was pristine and polished perfectly. Even the secretary had a beauty like a geisha.

At the grand sight, the enormity of this case started to weigh in on Kagome. This wasn't a case dealing with an average criminal that was running a drug trade or committing homicides; this was a class of people that Kagome had little to no experience with, despite you having to have no certain economic status when you become a Cabinet member.

"Do you have an appointment?" the overly-cheerful secretary asked.

Inuyasha flashed his badge, and Kagome quickly got with the program and displayed her temporary one as well.

The half demon dove right into the point. "Criminal profiler, Detective Takahashi Inuyasha, and my apprentice, Agent Higurashi Kagome. I don't think we need an appointment. We need to speak with Goda Moryomaru immediately. Where's his office?"

The secretary began to stammer nervously, almost speaking in fragments, "U-uh, the uh . . . second floor. Two doors down on the left. Y-you'll see his name plate. Elevator is straight ahead."

"Great, thanks," Inuyasha clipped, snapping his badge shut and striding purposefully to the elevator.

Kagome was struggling to keep up with him. She clumsily put her badge back into her pocket, quickly shot a thanks to the woman, and half-ran, half-walked to catch up with Takahashi-sama. She did not ask him to slow down; she knew her request would fall on deaf ears and he was hell-bent on getting information as quickly as possible. Kagome couldn't blame him.

They rode the elevator in silence; Inuyasha could not bring himself to speak. His hair was standing on end, like something was very wrong with the situation he and Higurashi were in. _Have we walked into the lion's mouth_ , he wondered, _or the lamb's house?_ Ironically, the only thing keeping him calm was the scent of the woman standing next to him, caressing his skin like a soft hug. Inuyasha was shocked at himself; he was usually so good at keeping himself calm in any and all situations. After all, it was in his training all those years ago. What was making him unravel at the seams now?

Thankfully, the ride to the second floor was a short one. Within seconds, the soft ding signaling the end of the wait and allowing Takashi to breathe non-Higurashi-polluted air. As soon as the silver doors slid open, Inuyasha stomped onto the marble floor, his shoes an ominous clacking as he walked. He could hear the young woman's heels of her boots trailing behind him.

When they reached the door to Goda's office, it was closed.

"I guess we knock?" Kagome asked quietly.

"Never a bad time for manners," Inuyasha shot back sarcastically, but knocking on the door nonetheless. When no answer came, he said, "Goda Moryomaru, this is the Japanese Task Force. We just need to speak to you for a few moments about-"

The detective didn't even get to finish his sentence when he heard the scrape of a chair against the floor behind the door and the sound of someone scrambling around, his silver ear flicking at the sound.

"Fucking shit," he hissed under his breath, wrenching the door open and drawing his weapon. He only saw a glimpse of the Cabinet member before said man was fleeing through a door.

"Stop! Freeze!" Inuyasha shouted but his words did nothing to slow him down. The detective gave chase and hoped Higurashi would follow, despite his gut telling him to make her stay safe. She was going to be made an official agent as soon as her paperwork cleared, dammit, she had to deal with this shit like everyone else! This was not time for him to babysit anyone.

The door that Goda went through led into an adjoining receiving room and out into the hallway. Inuyasha was quickly gaining speed, as the surprise of Goda running slowing him down momentarily, but Takahashi was half-demon and Goda was just a human. Inuyasha had the upper hand.

And Goda knew that. He dashed into a stairwell at the end of the hall, with a sign above it that read, "Emergency Exit". With clumsy human footing unable to quickly go downstairs, Inuyasha smirked in triumph. Quickly checking for Higurashi's footsteps behind him, and quickly finding that she was still following, the detective jumped ahead with all of his demon strength, landing a couple of feet in front of Goda Moryomaru, who had just reached the third flight of stairs.

Kagome's heart was pounding as fast as a hummingbird's wings inside of her chest, but she could not tell if it was from the adrenaline coursing through her veins or the cardio of running. All she knew was that she _had_ to keep up with Takahashi-sama. She ran like her life depended on it and, perhaps, it did.

She saw that Takahashi-sama had cornered Goda on the stairwell. Following suit, she ran up behind him and drew her gun in case the frightened man decided to try anything against them.

"Hands up, Goda!" she shouted, an authoritative tone overtaking her usually child-like voice. "We need to see your hands!"

The man's terrified, wide brown eyes flickered between woman and demon, clearly weighing his options of escape. The two agents clearly won out when he put his hands up with a defeated sigh.

Putting her gun away and drawing her handcuffs out, Kagome pushed the Cabinet member up against the concrete wall and cuffed his wrists together. She heard him whimper when she adjusted them a little too tightly.

"Shut up. That's for making me do cardio," she snapped out of frustration at the situation. "Goda Moryomaru, you are under arrest."

After she told Goda his rights, she saw movement in the corner of her eye. Takahashi-sama was sauntering towards them with a confident smirk on his face.

"Seems like you're in a lot of shit, Goda," Inuyasha taunted. "You and I are going to have a little chat. Might take a while, too."

Moryomaru remained silent as the pair led him out of the stairwell and to the elevator.

Kagome could not help but feel giddy inside. They had caught their first actual suspect on her first actual case! It might have been a childish reaction, but she was proud of herself and her team nonetheless. Maturity be damned!

As they rode on the elevator, she glanced at her teacher, of sorts. His shiny silver hair fell gloriously down his back, his jaw set strongly, almost pulsing, and his golden eyes held fixated ahead on an unknown point. Kagome could not deny it: He certainly _was_ attractive, in a unique sort of way. She had never seen a man like him and she didn't think there would be a man like him again. However, she was beginning to respect him a little too much to let herself think of him than anything more than her superior. No matter his past indiscretions, Kagome was beginning to see that Takahashi-sama was a good detective and agent. Happiness bubbled inside of her; all that she had been through led her to her dream job. She deserved this.

"You know what, I think we make a good team, Takahashi-sama," she smiled up at him.

Inuyasha shot her a glance, and being unable to look at her too-happy face for long, he hid the smile that was trying to creep onto his lips with a roll of his eyes.

"Feh," he snorted as he stepped off of the elevator. "This isn't a damn movie, woman. Get your head out of the clouds and focus on the job!"

Despite his harsh words, the experienced detective was once again reminded of her innocence in this field, and that look of bright and shining happiness would one day fade. For a moment, only for a moment, Inuyasha just wished he would never see that happiness die.

* * *

Updated on: February 17, 2018


	5. Chapter 5

**Important terminology for this chapter:**

AFIS: Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Your fingerprints go into this system whenever you are booked for an offense or anything else that requires a fingerprint with law enforcement.

Tonkatsu: A breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. It actually looks _really_ good, guys. It's a common Japanese food dish. We actually talked about this in my Japanese class so my source is LEGIT.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _InuYasha._

* * *

 **Chapter 5: February 6, 2016**

 **4:00 P.M.**

Special Agent Takahashi watched Goda Moryomaru through the one-way window. He had been watching the Cabinet for about twenty minutes, just observing the fucker stew and squirm. The way he ran was suspicious, to say the least. Goda had no previous criminal record but it was like he _thought_ he knew why he was being brought in for questioning. Inuyasha was mulling over how to play this out; should he outright say why they brought him in or let Goda do all the talking for himself?

Inuyasha looked up the man's background information as soon as they got him into an interrogation room. He was a political science major from Tokyo University, with a minor I sociology. And that was important: Goda was most likely well aware of his right against self-incrimination and yet he hadn't called upon a lawyer (yet). He didn't say much on the ride over, either. It was as if he vowed to go completely silent as soon as they slapped the cuffs on his wrists. It was also his right to remain silent, of course, so he could be playing that angle. The half-demon decided that the only way to know which way to approach this would be to go inside and feel him out.

His ear twitched when the sound of footsteps came from his side. More than one pair, by the sound of it. His golden eyes shifted from the detained man to the people approaching him. It was the Chief and Kagome.

"Update me," Sesshomaru said. He must have thought that constituted as a greeting.

"Goda Moryomaru, Cabinet member in the House of Representatives," Inuyasha began. Sesshomaru probably already knew that but, hey, he didn't specify. "There has been hearsay from the Fujiwaras that this man had a confrontation with Hakudoshi sometime late last year. When Higurashi-san and I went to his office to bring him in for questioning, he ran. He didn't get very far."

His cold half-brother made a non-committal noise as a reply. Kami, he was so _boring_. It still amazed Inuyasha that this asshole managed to date, marry, and impregnate a woman like Rin, who was so . . . not boring.

"I will observe the interrogation," the Chief stated.

He shrugged. "Do what you want."

"Do you want me to come in or stay out here with the Chief?" Kagome piped up.

Not that it really mattered, but something inside of Inuyasha didn't want the young woman to stay out here with his brother. In the back of his mind, what she said about Sesshomaru being attractive really _bothered_ him. Inuyasha wasn't self-conscious by any means, but he wasn't stupid enough to be oblivious to the fact that Sesshomaru attracted women like a goddamn magnet. Not like he understand why but it happened.

Actually, why was he even thinking about this?

The agent nodded to his apprentice. "You can come in to take notes but I'll do most of the talking. Deal?"

Kagome gave him a borderline-dazzling smile. "Deal!"

Inuyasha internally snorted as how happy she seemed for the small task she was given but who was he to rain on her parade? Honestly, the task of note-taking was a bit redundant, as most interrogations were recorded by video. He was just being _thorough_ , dammit!

He pushed down on the handle and the door opened with a click, causing Goda to look up from staring at the table. He said nothing as the two agents sat down.

Inuyasha stayed silent as well and Kagome simply took out her notepad from her blazer and a pen. The room continued to be quiet to the point that Inuyasha could practically hear the air moving around him.

So, he would start out simple then.

"Before we begin, I would like to remind you of your rights against self-incrimination and the right to council. I would also like to warn you that this conversation is subject to be recorded. Do you understand these rights?"

Goda nodded but gave no verbal reply. He was still twitching in his chair like a nervous school boy about to ask out his first crush.

"Your name is Goda Moryomaru, correct?"

The man across him nodded again.

Alright, so no more open-ended questions. Inuyasha was determined to make the fucker talk somehow. He was their first suspect. He needed something from his interrogation.

"How long have you been a Cabinet member?"

Goda hesitated before answering, "Two years."

"What would you say your experience being a Cabinet member has been like?"

"Stressful but fulfilling for my career."

Inuyasha had to be mindful of how he asked questions from here; he didn't want to be accused of leading the witness.

"And your relationships with your fellow members?" the Special Agent asked.

"We trust each other enough to work together. Politicians aren't keen on trusting each other easily, but we are all there with a similar goal in mind," Moryomaru commented.

"And what goal would that be?"

"The goal to better society, of course."

"So you don't think an act to help the environment would in turn help society? The air and noise pollution from the size of Japan's population is getting worse every day, after all."

Moryomaru twitched in his chair as Kagome flipped a page in her notepad with a kind of flare Inuyasha shouldn't have noticed.

"Y-you're talking about that day, aren't you?" the suspect stammered.

"What day?" Inuyasha prompted.

"The d-day I went to Hakudoshi's house. You have to understand, i-it's not what it looks like!"

 _He_ _'s surprisingly chatty all of a sudden._ "Can you tell us what happened?"

"I . . . I went to Hakudoshi's house one day last October after we had had a Cabinet meeting. We had to vote on a bill that would help reduce heat emissions, meaning to reduce the amount of cars on the roads, as well as forcing companies to use more energy-friendly production tactics. I knew this was the bill that Hakudoshi helped create, because we had spoken about it before. A lot of other Cabinet members didn't like it because companies sponsored them, and companies generally don't like having to change means of production.

"I didn't have a problem with the bill, overall. It was by no means perfect but you can always vote to make amendments for improvement as you go along. But . . . I voted against it."

"Why?" Inuyasha inquired curiously.

Goda looked down at his hands - now uncuffed - which were folded on top of the cold, silver table. He pressed his lips together until they practically disappeared, as if forcing himself to remain silent.

The half-demon had to hold back a frustrated growl. He was doing so well! Why the hell shut up at this point?

"Let me give you a piece of advice," Inuyasha tried, "if you have nothing to hide, it's best to give up what you know now. Elsewise, you'll hold up the investigation and make yourself look guilty. You'll remain a suspect unless you manage to dig yourself out of the hole."

Well, that wasn't the complete truth. They needed hard evidence to clear him completely, but there were no laws against lying, right?

Goda's lips moved in confession, which Inuyasha caught, but he saw Kagome lean forward, signifying that she didn't hear what he said with her human hearing.

"What?" Inuyasha said to make him speak up for Kagome's sake.

"I was jealous!" Goda shouted, lifting his head to reveal desperate brown eyes.

"Jealous? You voted against a bill out of sheer _jealousy_?" Honestly, why were people so petty?

"Hakudoshi was fucking my wife! That day the Councilors were to vote on the bill was the day Kagura told me about it. And when it was my turn to vote, I saw that bastard's signature staring back at me, taunting me. I couldn't take it. So, I voted no, and as soon as we ended the meeting, I went to Hakudoshi's. I yelled at him over anything that came to my mind. The bill, Kagura, whatever. I thought we were friends, you know? And there he was . . . fucking my damn wife!"

"You threatened to make him pay," Inuyasha stated. He didn't need to ask at this point.

"Shit," Goda hissed. "I knew that was bad. I really did. But it was out of my mouth before I could stop it! I didn't kill him, though. You have to believe me!"

By the time he was done talking, the Cabinet member was almost halfway across the table with eyes so wide Inuyasha thought they would pop out.

Inuyasha remained calmed in the light of Moryomaru's desperation. "Where were you on the night of January 31st, through two a.m. the next morning?"

Goda sighed, leaning back into his chair completely. "I was at a bar in downtown Tokyo, drinking alone. Kagura filed for divorce that day. I got home from the bar at around three a.m."

"What was the name of the bar?"

"Meido."

Inuyasha turned his gaze to look at Kagome, the first he's looked at her since they entered the room. She had written at least four pages of notes. If Kagome was nothing else, it was meticulous.

"Where is your wife now?" Inuyasha questioned.

Moryomaru shrugged. "I don't know. She left home the day she filed for divorce."

"Could she be staying for family? Have you not checked?"

He shook his head. "Kagura doesn't have family."

Inuyasha nodded. "Alright. We'll call the bar you were at to confirm your alibi. For now, you're free to go, Goda-sama."

They all stood and bowed customarily. Everyone stepped out of the room and Moryomaru was escorted out to be taken home.

As he watched Goda go down the hall, Inuyasha concluded that the Cabinet member really was innocent . . . most likely. He may have been a desperate man after finding out his wife was having an affair with someone he thought was a friend, but Inuyasha didn't smell the stench of murderer on him – figuratively.

"I'll go to Meido to confirm Goda's whereabouts that night. Ask if anyone remembers seeing him," Inuyasha stated to Sesshomaru, who had a deadpan countenance.

"And I'll write up a report for the interrogation. I'll have it on your desk before I leave, Takahashi-sama," Kagome gave a small bow to the chief before quickly walking to her cubicle.

Inuyasha sure as hell didn't stare after her. No way.

When the profiler's eyes flicked back to his brother, Sesshomaru was staring at him.

"What?" he snapped nervously.

The older demon let out a 'hn' sound and said, "Hurry up and get to Meido. I want that done today."

And that was all Inuyasha got before the bastard walked away. He couldn't resist the roll of his eyes skyward as he made his way to his office. It was Friday, dammit! And it was nearing five o' clock, which was usually the time he was preparing to go home, have a beer or two, and then pass out. Inuyasha hadn't worked a late night in . . . Well, he couldn't remember how long. Then again, they hadn't had a high-profile case such as this in a long time. With a governmental figure dead, and no clear suspects as of yet, he suddenly had a foreboding feeling that there were going to be many late nights ahead.

Groaning to himself, the half-demon gathered up his materials into his case so he could take everything home. He didn't like carrying a briefcase because the thought it made him look like a pretentious businessman, but it was the most practical thing to carry case files and multiple papers in. Inuyasha also had the thought that maybe he should carry a photo of Goda Moryomaru with him to the bar in case no one recognized his name. After all, he could have very well used a fake one or never have given one.

Booting up his laptop, he browsed the internet for a photo, as well as the address for Meido. As he did so an urgent knock sounded through the room. He didn't even remember closing the door.

He let out a, "Come in!" way more gruffly than he meant to.

"Inuyasha," Sango addressed, her voice slightly strained.

Said agent looked over at her with a furrowed brow. She sounded . . . frazzled, for lack of a better term.

"Fuck, did Miroku grab your ass again? I thought he cut that shit out."

Sango shook her head and moved to take a seat in front of his desk. "Koga and I were going over the evidence again. We wanted to make sure we got everything."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "And?"

She held up a little baggie with a certain cylinder-shaped object inside. "We have a partial finger print on the bullet."

"Shit." The curse left his lips with a whoosh of air. It was like a small portion of the weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Anything in AFIS?"

"No, but it could be because it's a partial. But I think we need to get fingerprints from everyone you've talked to so far. We have to rule them out one-by-one."

"I'm going to see if Goda Moryomaru's alibi checks out now," Inuyasha replied as he got up to pluck the photo from his printer. "He apparently was at a bar the night of the murder. We'll go from there on Monday."

"Are you sure you want to let this sit over a weekend?"

Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly as he tossed on his coat. "It's Friday. I'm ready to get the hell out of here and I know everyone else is, too. A fingerprint can wait over the weekend. Koga will be thrilled to go home to Ayame. Just come in early Monday."

Sango snorted at the last part. "Okay. We will secure all the evidence before we leave."

"Sounds good. Where's Higurashi-san?"

"Uh . . . last I saw her, she was at her desk. Why?"

It was all he had to keep a neutral tone. "Because she's coming with me."

Sango's brown eyes followed him to the door and she smirked, "You know you don't have to take her everywhere you go, right?"

"The wench wants more experience. I'm just making sure she gets it," he feebly defended himself.

"Uh-huh," Sango piped in a sing-song voice. "I'll see you Monday."

With a wave, the evidence specialist shrugged past Inuyasha and made her way back to the lab.

Mumbling obscenities under his breath, Inuyasha trudged over to the area with the cubicles where Kagome was sitting. She didn't even look up when he approached her desk, too busy writing the report for the chief.

Inuyasha cleared his throat to get her attention.

With a whip of her head, Kagome looked up from her computer screen. Seeing Inuyasha caused an embarrassed flush to spread to her cheeks. Moments ago, she had seen Sango rush through with a determined expression. Actually, she had felt the evidence specialist whizz by more so than she saw it. Inuyasha standing in front of her desk gave Kagome a clue as to where the superior woman had gone.

"How long have you been there?" Kagome asked sheepishly.

"Not long. Sango and Koga found a partial print on the bullet retrieved from the body."

Hey blue-grey eyes widened. "No way! That's awesome!"

Inuyasha couldn't help the lift of a black eyebrow. "'Awesome'? How old are you again?"

Kagome shot him a deadpan look. "I'm twenty-five, dingbat. Didn't you read my profile?"

"No." He avoided any extra knowledge about her that he didn't absolutely need to know. "What dignified twenty-five-year-old agent uses the word 'awesome'?"

"Uh, technically, I'm not an official agent yet. I'm still an apprentice. So I can use awesome whenever I like!"

There was _no way_ Inuyasha found that endearing. No way.

"Right," He said to brush it off. "Anyway, we gotta go."

"What? Where? I still have to finish the report for Chief Takahashi!" she protested.

"Do you have a laptop at home?"

"Well . . . yeah . . ."

"Then finish it there. I want you to come with me to Meido to check out Goda's alibi. I can give you Sesshy's e-mail so you can send it to him."

"Oh. I suppose it's fine, then," Kagome relented. She stood from her seat, grabbing her coat and pressing her papers to her chest.

"Do you not have something to carry papers in?" Inuyasha questioned from the observation as they started walking out.

The young woman shook her head. "No. I never thought to invest in one. I'm saving up for one, though."

Inuyasha opened the car door for her and she nodded her thanks as she slid inside. He got inside, as well, and as he cranked up the heat and started the trek to downtown, he tried not to think about why he seemed to notice every little thing about Kagome, nor why he was worried about her carrying papers, of all things.

By the end of the ride, Inuyasha had concluded that deep, deep down, he was absolutely fucked.

 **6:05 P.M.**

The bar called Meido was a rat hole, to say the least. Okay, maybe that was being a bit harsh- after all, it's not like Inuyasha never went to a sketchy bar – but the strong stench of alcohol permeating the air rubbed his nose the wrong way. It was like someone had spilled a whole keg or two in the room. The lights were dimmed to the point you could barely see who else was in the bar with you if you weren't sitting right next to them. However, it was interesting to see that the ceiling sparkled like there were stars adorning it. It was . . . odd in the setting, to say the least. There were also only one or two more people in the bar besides Inuyasha and Kagome, but it was still a bit early for a bar to be crowded. However, even in downtown Tokyo, the area surrounding the bar was less populated than it should have been. Inuyasha found that odd.

As the pair sat down at the bar, Inuyasha couldn't help but notice how out of place Kagome looked in there. She had shrugged off her coat once they had entered and for the first time all day, he noticed her outfit: She was wearing a garnet-colored sweater with a white collar peeping out of the top. Wearing black skinny jeans and matching heeled boots, she looked too classy. Too innocent.

"Hiya, what can I get for you lovely people tonight?" a feminine voice called out.

 _That must be the bartender_ , Inuyasha thought. He hadn't seen her when they came in but that probably meant that she was in the back.

It was a "her" in his head because of the sensual, high-pitched tone, but when Inuyasha turned his head, it was definitely _not_ a woman, though they could definitely be mistaken for one. The person in front of him had slanted, brown eyes that were adorned with blue eyeshadow and ruby red lips. Long hair was piled on top of their head with long bangs framing the face. While dressed more so on the feminine side, what gave it away was the lack of- ahem- cleavage and an extremely chiseled jawline. Women just didn't have those features.

"Uh . . . you . . .?" Inuyasha stammered. His brain was still playing catch-up.

"Oooooh, aren't you the cutest thing?!" the bartender cooed with the same flamboyant tone.

The profiler wanted to believe he was talking to Kagome, but the man had leaned forward to play with a strand of Inuyasha's forelocks, quickly debunking that hopeful theory.

"And you're hair is so soft!" he continued to praise. "You must take such great care of it. What I wouldn't give to run my hands through it while we-"

"Whoa! Hey!" the shocked man protested, jerking away from the bartender's touch. "Who the fuck are you?!"

"Name's Jakotsu, baby. Better remember it. You'll need it for later." He winked and leaned his arms on the counter.

 _Who the fuck actually talks like that anymore? Is this what women have been subject to all along?_ Inuyasha suddenly regretted all the times he ever showed his face in public with Miroku and vowed to never do so again.

"Well, I'm Special Agent Takahashi," Inuyasha returned the introduction. "This is Agent Higurashi, my apprentice," he explained for her lack of credentials.

"An agent? Kinky. What can I do for you?"

"Can you tell us who was bartending the night of January 31st?"

"The 31st? It wasn't me. Let me go in the back and check the schedule. Do you want anything while you're waiting?"

"A vodka on the rocks, please," Kagome said instantaneously. She suddenly felt the need for a drink, though she had no idea why.

Jakotsu scanned her over. "Sure you're old enough for that, hun?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You wanna I.D. me?"

The bartender put up his hands. "I believe you. What about you, handsome?"

"Just Jack and Coke for me," Inuyasha answered.

Jakotsu nodded and set to making drinks. There was silence between the two agents as they waited.

Kagome was silent out of annoyance. She was annoyed that the bartender was hitting on Inuyasha, but why she was annoyed she could not say. She wasn't _jealous_. It was just an annoyance because they were here on business.

Right! That was it!

They received their drinks, Kagome's a clear, moonlit liquid and Inuyasha's a bubbling, perspiring darkness in the short glass. Jakotsu waved that he would be right back and ran behind a wall.

"Vodka, huh?" Inuyasha commented. "I didn't take you for the type."

Kagome took a swig and Inuyasha didn't know what was so attractive about a woman drinking vodka straight.

She answered, "It's not usually my thing but I can handle it sometimes. If I ever wanted to go completely numb, it's what I would drink in my college days."

"You partied?" Inuyasha couldn't imagine that in any part of his brain.

"Very rarely. It wasn't really my thing but I go dragged to a few. I wouldn't say it's in my top ten of best experiences."

"What's your number one best experience?"

Kagome opened her mouth to answer but she was interrupted.

"Agent Takahashi," a man with long hair pulled back into a braid greeted as he strode over to them and extended his hand. "Bankotsu. I'm the owner here. Jakotsu said you wanted to know who was working on the 31st."

The special agent shook his hand. "That's right."

"I was the one bartending that night. I also had a waitress working the tables."

"Then could you tell us," Inuyasha pulled the photograph from his pocket, "if you remember seeing this man there that night?"

Bankotsu leaned over the counter and plucked the photo from his hand. His mouth set into a hard line and his eyes narrowed a fraction; he was contemplating something.

"Hm," the bar owner hummed. "I've seen him in here a few times, for sure. Can't exactly say if it was that night, though."

"Do you have any security cameras in here?" Inuyasha inquired further.

Bankotsu shot him a look. "Does it look like we have that fancy shit in here? Sorry, bud," the photograph was slid across the countertop, "but I don't remember if he was there that night. I can give you my waitress' number in case she remembers anything."

"That would be great," the half-demon grumbled, annoyed at the lack of evidence this trip was giving him and this guy's attitude. "And if you could, could you keep a record of whenever he comes in here?"

" _What?_ Do you know how many customers I have, man?" Bankotsu protested incredulously.

"Obviously not many since you can't afford a security system," Inuyasha snapped, his annoyance rising. "Look, just get me the number, okay? I'll even leave the photo here with you."

He slid the photo back over to Bankotsu then slapped some money on top of it. "Keep it. Put it towards your security fund."

"Oh no, babycakes," Jakotsu giggled with wink as the bar owner slunk off to the back. "Those are on the house. You hard-working agents deserve a drink."

"How gracious of you," Inuyasha blanched.

When Bankotsu returned, the agents had finished their drinks. If Inuyasha wasn't ready to go home before, he definitely was now. The bar owner's attitude had gotten on his nerves, and on top of that, the asshole wasn't even helpful towards the investigation. The least he could do was let them know if Moryomaru returned to the bar. They clearly needed to keep an eye on the man's moves for a while. The Cabinet member had been to the bar a few times already so he was likely to return again.

Also, Jakotsu kept offering to make him a blowjob (yes, it's an _actual_ fucking thing) and that just made Inuyasha ever the more annoyed.

"Um . . ." Kagome muttered, unsure of what to say to her superior. He had an agitated expression on his face the whole way to the car, and it made her nervous to speak.

"I guess I'll see you Monday?" she offered weakly.

"Wait, what?" he shot her a confused look. "How are you getting home?"

"I can catch a bus."

"On this side of town? Fuck no. I can give you a ride home."

"Are you sure? You don't have to," Kagome protested. "I'm used to taking the bus."

Inuyasha opened the door and motioned for her to get in, smirking, "What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you go home alone in such dangerous times?"

"Since when are you a gentleman?" Kagome teased, smiling as she obliged him. "Besides, I can take care of myself well enough, Takahashi."

The agent chuckled. "Shit, see if I ever do anything nice for you again. Now, where do you live, wench?"

"Sakura Apartments."

He nodded, turning in the direction towards her home at the red light. Their playful banter brought a smirk to his face but he was also very put-off by it. Most trainees were cautious of the half-demon, whether it be because of his heritage of that they were intimidated by his attitude. It didn't matter to him the reason as long as they got their job done and listened. They usually only spoke to him when necessary. It took month for most people to get comfortable around him to make even small talk. Even Sango had taken a bit to warm up to him, but given her family history, he could understand that.

And yet . . .

And yet Kagome was at ease with him almost instantly. They gave each other hell in the beginning (Okay, she may have put Inuyasha in his place a time or two) but she wasn't scared to speak her mind in front of him, to show him her abilities. She was someone Inuyasha looked forward to having officially on his team. He hadn't been this impressed in a long time- hadn't felt this accepted in his long time. Besides his mother, there was only one other person who didn't grow nervous around him instantly, and that situation was completely different from now.

When they reached Kagome's apartment, Inuyasha almost didn't notice. He had been running on autopilot since he was familiar with Sakura Apartments, having driven past it multiple times.

"Thanks for the ride," Kagome said, holding her papers close to her chest in preparation of making a mad dash to her apartment door. It was cold as absolute hell and she was desperate for her bed now more than ever.

"No problem." Unwarranted, a thought slammed into Inuyasha's mind. If this were a date, this is where he would get out of the car, walk the girl to the door, and kiss her goodnight.

As quick as the thought came, he pushed it from his mind. This wasn't a damn date; this was him dropping off a co-worker. Someone he respected and refused to view in that way.

"A-anytime," Inuyasha stammered in recovery, trying to hide his train of thought, as if Kagome could read his thoughts.

Kagome smiled again, white teeth blinding him as always. "Goodnight, Inuyasha-sama."

"Just-"

The car door shut and he watched Kagome run into the apartment complex.

". . . Inuyasha."

 **7:55 P.M.**

Once safely inside of the apartment, Kagome dropped her papers messily on the table next to the door and threw her coat on the ground uncaringly. She had plans to heat up some leftovers, take a nice, hot shower, maybe read a little in her book, then passing out. The young trainee had no particular plans for Saturday, so she could sleep in, but she was visiting her family on Sunday.

Instead of all that, Kagome simply trudged to her room, undressing while going down the hall. Her mind was in a haze. The profiler dropping her off tonight reminded her of the end of a _date_ , of all things. Which was silly because there was virtually nothing romantic about the car ride to her apartment. They didn't even speak! But still, that is where her mind wandered, and that is why she was desperate to get out of the car. Kagome's only explanation was that she was losing her mind.

Her leftover tonkatsu went uneaten in her fridge.

The shower was left off.

Her copy of Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_ went untouched on her nightstand.

Kagome concluded that if she went to sleep now, cuddle under the covers that she had been thinking about since eight o'clock this morning, that her silly thoughts would disappear. Inuyasha was her co-worker, her superior- There was no need for her to be dreaming like a lost schoolgirl. She had worked too hard, had gone through too much, to let pointless thoughts get in the way of her job now. The profiler had a rough exterior but Kagome could see the hard-working, kind man below the surface. That's why the stories she had heard about him didn't add up in her head anymore. Everything she had heard had seemed so wrong. But she still didn't want to get to know him to the point that she could possibly develop feelings for him. Inuyasha was attractive- she could not deny that- but that's Kagome couldn't get carried away. She didn't need nor did she want a romantic relationship. Her success was all that mattered. Proving him wrong was all that mattered now.

* * *

Updated on: February 17, 2018.


	6. Chapter 6

Oh my god. Guys. This is it. A new chapter of _Projectile_ is finally up again! I can barely believe it! Can you guys believe? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't believe it.

First, I would like to start out by sincerely apologizing for the longer-than-intended hiatus with this story (and _The Creed_ ). I meant to have a new chapter uploaded last month, but life and school got in the way. A couple months ago, my stepmother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and this has been a challenging thing to deal with on top of school. So, I decided I needed to take a step back and focus on myself and my family for my mental health. After I did that, I started to feel loads better and I am ready to get writing again! Having a short, fun little project like _Titanic_ has helped with this as well. I also want to thank everyone for their kind words of support when I went on hiatus! You guys rock!

Secondly, in light of school being so busy and life doing what it does best, I will be changing how I update. I used to try and update every week, but that proved too stressful with time management between other things, and I would always have to rush to get a chapter up. So from here on out, I will be updating **once a month**. Unless I have some extra time where I can write more, the only pic that will be updated more than once a month is _Titanic_ , only because those chapters tend to be shorter than the rest. I hope you're cool with that.

I think that's about all the important stuff out of the way, except that I wanted to tell you guys to go follow me on Tumblr! My username is FeudalPriestess98, where I will start posting exclusive content of our beloved couple, Inuyasha and Kagome!

Now without further ado, on with the long anticipated story!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _InuYasha._

* * *

 **Chapter 6: February 9th, 2016**

 **8: 30 A.M.**

It was another rainy February day as Kagome Higurashi dashed into the Task Force building from the bus stop, which was a couple of blocks away. Today was just _not_ going her way.

First, instead of pressing the snooze button when her alarm went off, she pressed the off button, which resulted in her oversleeping. There was no time to put on makeup so she settled for quickly swiping on some mascara and throwing on her clothes. A granola bar sufficed as her breakfast as she bolted out the door, and the unsuspecting young woman didn't even bother to check the weather.

The second thing that went wrong was that it was raining outside, and Kagome had forgotten both her umbrella and her rain jacket. She would have run back inside but . . . well . . . she had apparently locked her keys inside the apartment. Which was the _third_ thing that went wrong - never mind that she had to make it on her bus through the rain and off the bus in the same manner.

Finally at her desk, Kagome threw off her jacket that had become soaked, letting it fall to the floor in a careless heap. She ran her hands throw her hair in frustration, trying to work out the tangles with her fingers, but it was to no avail. She settled for tying the wet tresses into a bun. The material of her white, button down shirt clung to her skin, as well as her pants. Luckily, she did find a roll of paper towels in her desk drawer, so she was able to use those to dry off her face and clothes to some extent, but the rest would just have to air dry, much to her chagrin.

"Good morning, Kagome," Koga greeted as walked towards Kagome with a smirk, leaning on the corner of her desk. "I heard you come in. Coffee?"

"Thank you, Koga," said woman sighed in relief as she took the Styrofoam cup that was offered to her. "And good morning. Have you been here long?"

"Not long. Sango and I headed out this morning to collect fingerprints for comparison." Koga paused, his eyes zeroing in on Kagome and looking her over. "You look . . . frazzled."

"Rough morning," Kagome groaned. "I didn't realize it was raining when I left. Where is Sango?"

"In the lab already," he answered quickly, as if to cover something up. "May or may not be getting harassed by Miroku."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Should you not be with her . . .?"

"Me? Nah. Sango's got it handled on her own." Koga said. He moved away from her desk to go sit at his own, putting his feet on his desk as was his signature move.

Rolling her eyes and turning away from him, Kagome opened the case file to look it over. It was growing every day and it had been less than a week since they started the case. That was a good sign; the media and people would want an arrest on a case such as this quickly. Whenever Sango came back with the fingerprint results, another report would be added to the pile.

"Great, the mutt's here . . ." Koga grumbled behind her.

A frown settled on Kagome's face and she swiveled her chair to face the wolf demon. "Are you talking about Takahashi-sama?"

"Who else?"

"Why do you call him a 'mutt'?" she inquired.

"Because he's a half-breed, that's why," Koga said with a sneer, as if the word alone disgusted him.

 _A half-breed?_

"But what does that have to do with anything?"

"It's like a-"

The wolf demon stopped and his gaze shifted from Kagome to something above her shoulder. Following his line of sight, she swiveled in her chair to see a glaring Inuyasha standing on the opposite side of her desk. His glare, however, shot right past her to the man behind her.

"Are you issuing a formal complaint about your leadership, wolf?" Inuyasha challenged, his tone glazed over with ice.

Koga glared back for a moment before answering, "No," and quickly got up to stalk off.

Kagome turned her eyes back to Inuyasha, who's narrowed eyes followed Koga for a moment before finally looking at her. When he did, his golden orbs went from narrow to wide in a matter of seconds, causing Kagome to become confused.

"What?" she snapped, wondering why he and Koga had both looked at her funny.

"Nothing!" Inuyasha barked back.

Kagome could have sworn a blush had started to creep across his cheeks.

"Sesshy-I mean, the Chief wants to see you."

"He does?" Kagome asked unsurely. "Why?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "He didn't say. I just had to stop by my office on the way to Meido."

"Oh . . . well, I suppose I'll go talk to him, then." Standing up, Kagome straightened out her shirt to the best of her ability. It was just her luck that the Chief would want too see her today of all days, when she was still air drying and she didn't even have makeup on.

"Oh, um, here," Inuyasha said as he shrugged out of his coat and draped it around her shoulders. "You might need that."

"Thanks, I guess," Kagome replied, though she didn't know why she needed it. However, she was grateful for something dry and warm.

"Didn't you bring an umbrella or something with you, stupid? I swear, you never seem to bring one," Inuyasha teased with a smirk.

"It wasn't my fault!" Kagome protested. "I woke up late and forgot it!"

"Stupid, like I said," he commented, but Kagome was unable to keep arguing as he was already headed out the door.

 _He . . . doesn't want his jacket back?_ Kagome pondered as she stared down at the black material covering her shoulders. She smiled and shook her head, slipping her arms through the sleeves. Inuyasha was definitely the type of person that grew on you.

She made her way to Sesshomaru's office, knocking on the door even though it was open.

"Ms. Higurashi," he said without looking up. "Come on in."

"You wanted to see me, sir?" she inquired as she took a seat in front of him.

"I did." Setting his pen down, he shifted through the papers before him. After some searching, he found what he was searching for and, to Kagome's surprise, held it out to her.

"Congratulations, Ms. Higurashi. You are officially an agent of the Japanese Task Force," the chief said.

He didn't say it in an overly-pleased tone, but that didn't matter. Kagome stared down at her bade in awe. The golden metal reflected and winked back at her under the fluorescent lights. The symbol of the Task Force was emboldened on it, with her name in engraved at the top. She had waited so long for this moment, had worked so hard, she didn't really believe it was finally here.

"My . . . paperwork rolled over?"

Sesshomaru nodded in confirmation. "Yes, and quicker than expected."

"Oh my god - I mean, thank you so much Chief Takahashi-sama! This means so much to me," Kagome gushed excitedly.

"No need to thank me. You did all the hard work. You have yourself to thank for that."

A wide, bright smile stretched onto the newly appointed agent's face. She stood up and bowed before her boss.

"Still, you have me the opportunity to work here. I won't let you down."

If Kagome didn't know any better, she would have swore than the corner of Sesshomaru's mouth twitched upwards. But, like she said, if she didn't know any better.

The chief dismissed her, and Kagome walked out of his office with a pep in her step that hadn't been there before. She clipped the badge onto her belt. When she did so, a surge of pride welled up inside her. _She_ had done this; _she_ deserved this badge. Whatever she had gone through before no longer mattered. Her career was what mattered now.

Deciding to go ahead and take a bathroom break before the day started, she made her way to the restroom. Stopping in front of the mirror, she couldn't help but admire herself in the mirror. She pushed Inuyasha jacket back as she placed her hands on her hips. The badge shined on her hip, and Kagome smiled once more. But when her vision moved from her hip to the rest of her reflection, she noticed something was peeking out from underneath her shirt.

Suddenly, Kagome understood all the odd looks from Inuyasha and Koga, and why Inuyasha had given her his jacket.

Underneath the pale, half-wet, white shirt, was a lacy, black bra that you could see clear as day.

 **9: 45 A.M.**

Inuyasha was back in Meido far too soon. Even though it was too early for the bar to be open (or late, depending one how you looked at it), Bankotsu had let him in so Inuyasha could speak to the waitress who had been working the night Goda was allegedly in the night of the murder.

Now, the detective was starting to doubt that she was a waitress. She looked more like a stripper. It was February, meaning it was in the dead of winter in Japan, and yet the woman was dressed in fishnet tights with an impossibly short black dress that had slits up the sides. Clearly, Bankotsu wasn't too picky with a dress code.

"So your name is Hajime Yura?" he began by asking.

"Yeah, that's me," she replied in a candy-sweet voice as she blew out a puff of smoke from the cigarette stickng out from between her lips. Even through the smoke, Inuyasha could see her glowing red eyes framed by dark, short hair and pale skin. Yura had the potential to be very attractive if Inuyasha didn't find her flat out weird. The first thing she said to him when he came in was that he had pretty hair. The agent had to reconcile that that was just how Yura greeted people.

"And you were working the night of January 31st into February 1st, correct?"

The waitress shrugged. "That's what the schedule says. Don't you need to read me my rights or somethin'?"

"Do you have a reason you want your rights read?" Inuyasha inquired with a raised brow.

"No, I was just curious."

"Great." The half-demon pulled the photo out of Moryomaru and slid it over to her. "Do you recognize this man?"

Yura snuffed out her cigarette into a bowl before leaning over and gazing at the photo. "Yeah, I've seen him in here a few times. He's one of the few that never grabbed at my ass."

"Do you remember if he was there that night you were working?"

"No," she quipped back.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "That was a quick answer. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't remember. If he was here, he was avoiding me pretty well."

"Why do you say that?"

"He had become . . . upset the last time I had seen him," Yura said.

"Upset? Upset how?" Inuyasha inquired.

Yura sighed. "Look, I don't want any shit from this, okay? So don't tell my boss."

He put his hands up in a placating manner. "I won't say a word." Inuyasha didn't make a habit of snitching when people willingly gave up information – it was rare to come by in the first place.

"I can't remember exactly when this was, but it had to be around a month or so ago now. This man," she put a painted red nail in the photo of Moryomaru, "came into the bar. I remember serving him drink after drink. Hours went by, customers started to drift out the door, and he was wasted. Looked damn miserable, too. I try to make conversation with the customers, make 'em want to come back and all that, so I asked him what got him so down.

"He said that he had just found out his wife was cheating on him, and with his best friend no less. They had been married for twenty years and she threw it away just to fuck someone else. So I told him that no bitch that was willing to cheat on their husband is worth crying over. After that, we talked some more, maybe even started to flirt a little. Then he told me that I looked a little like his wife and that made him look sad again. I didn't like that. He was one of the only customers that was nice to me and didn't look at me like I'm a piece of meat. So . . ."

"So?" Inuyasha prompted expectantly, his writing on his pad stalling from the pause.

"So, I took him in the bathroom and blew him."

Now, he was really confused. "But I thought you said he never made a pass at you."

"He didn't. That's why I blew him. I just wanted to make him feel better, you know? Didn't have the prettiest hair, but he was nice. But afterwards he just mumbled about how he was technically still married and that he shouldn't have let that happen, I just assumed he had been avoiding me ever since. I didn't know if he had ever come back here, at least when I wasn't on shift."

"That's what we're trying to confirm," Inuyasha grunted.

He figured he had gotten all the useful information out of her he was going to get, so Inuyasha collected his writing pad and the photo then stood up.

"Thank you for giving me your time," he said to close the interview. "I'll give you a call if we need anything else from you. And I'll keep my mouth shut to your boss."

Yura shot him a small smile. "Thanks. Bankotsu can be a real asshole sometimes."

"Couldn't imagine why," Inuyasha mumbled the nodded his thanks to Yura.

As the detective made his way back to his car through the downpour, he couldn't help but think about Kagome and how she looked like a drowned cat. A cute drowned cat . . . but a drowned cat nonetheless. He hoped to god that he could get the image of that damn black bra out of his head, but he just fucking couldn't! It was something teenage boys had to daydream about, not grown men. It was obvious Kagome was curvy, it wasn't something that could just be ignored, but seeing the image of her with her black hair tied into a bun, her clothe sticking to her body, and rain still clinging to her lashes, made it impossible to ignore. It was already bad enough that Koga had seen her that way but he sure as hell wasn't going to let his own brother see it!

If Inuyasha was rational, he would have been mad over Koga talking shit about his heritage again, but he was honestly so used to it that it was nothing but a mere annoyance. He didn't like it in the slightest that he couldn't go a day without hearing that disgusting term - "half-breed" - but you couldn't change people's opinions or how they viewed things. But no, he was pissy over the fact that he knew Koga had been gawking at Kagome, and was just going to let her walk around like that without telling or helping her. Some people really were bastards.

He pondered over this on his drive back to the Task Force building. When he arrived inside, he saw multiple people crowded around Kagome's desk.

"What's this all about?" Inuyasha queried as he approached the group.

"Kagome got her badge!" Sango cheered, her face lit up like a proud mother at their kid's school play.

"She did, huh? Let me see." He moved around them, purposefully ignoring Koga, and came to stand next to where Kagome was sitting.

With a smile, she presented her badge to him. Inuyasha could not help but smile back at her. He was proud her, truly. While her being his apprentice was merely a formality, Inuyasha felt that he was losing a sort of protectiveness over her. He could not stop her from taking her own cases if she wished, or going ahead of her in a dangerous situation. He knew she was smarter than that, but this was a feeling he had felt before, and he had no wish to feel it again.

His smile waned slightly but he forced it to stay on his face. "Congratulations, Higurashi. You deserve it."

"Thank you, Takahashi-sama," she said with a slight bow. "I'll do my best to make you all proud."

"You'll do fine, Kagome," Miroku praised with his easy smile.

 _So everyone's on a first-name basis with her now?_

"Sango, did you find anything in the lab today?" Inuyasha changed the subject to cover up his annoyance.

"I did, actuallly," Sango replied and handed him a piece of paper. "We got a match to the fingerprint. Goda Moryomaru."

 _That fucker_ , Inuyasha growled. "It's high time we made an arrest. I'll bring him in. Higurashi, make the report."

She nodded and took the paper from him. "Oh, do you want your jacket back? Mine should be dry by now."

"Keep it," Inuyasha said sharply. "Koga, you're with me. This asshole's put up a fight before."

"Got it," he replied, following Inuyasha out quickly. It was Koga who was actually having to make the effort to keep up this time.

Inuyasha was glad for the distraction. He didn't want to think about Miroku suing Kagome's first name, or Kagome getting her badge, or her stupidly curvy body that he just couldn't seem to ignore. Maybe if he was lucky, Good would put up a fight and Inuyasha would be able to let out a bit of his frustration.

Sometimes, you just had to appreciate the small things in life.

* * *

Read and review and let me know what you think of this chapter! I know it's a little shorter than the others but it's just the way it ended up working out.

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **Winchester (all chapters):** Can you believe that you have reviewed for _every single chapter_ of this story? Because I sure as hell can't. I need to get on your level. Thank you so much for every review you have left me, and I am so glad you're enjoying this story. There will be lots more to come, I promise! Reviews like yours keep me going.

 **Guest (chapter 4):** I feel so honored that my fit is worthy of being binged! Ugh, you're awesome. I try my very best to make the chemistry between Kagome and iNuyasha. I often feel that I'm lazy with it because I myself just want to shove them together in every way possible. Good to know I'm doing something right!

 **ChaosreigN:** I am also looking forward to how the case progresses! Haha, thank you so much for the review!


End file.
